Kinetic Analysis of Rate Data for Dry Reforming of Methane

The kinetics of the CO 2 reforming of methane was investigated on a Ni−Rh−Al 2 O 3 catalyst. Twenty-seven mechanistic models were considered and fitted to the experimental data by numerically integrating the rate equation of the dry reforming of methane reaction. A thermodynamic analysis showed that the reverse water gas shift reaction operates in or very close to thermodynamic equilibrium. A strategy of model discrimination and parameter estimation led to a model that considers CO 2 molecular adsorption, CH 4 dissociative adsorption, and its surface chemical reaction as the rate-determining step. The parameter estimates in the resulting model are statistically significant and thermodynamically consistent.