Microkinetic and sensitivity analysis of oxidative dry reforming of methane on Ni-Co catalyst using a reaction mechanism based on Ni

Microkinetic modelling of dry reforming of methane (DRM) with O 2 co-feed was performed using a previously developed reforming mechanism. The model was validated by comparing simulated results with experimentally determined data over a variety of reaction conditions. Numerically predicted results show that co-feeding O 2 improved CH 4 conversion, reduced carbon deposition, and increased H 2 /CO ratio. Microkinetic analysis shows that during oxidative dry reforming of methane (ODRM), the surface coverage of empty sites tracks the CH 4 conversion. Furthermore, the H 2 /CO ratio is directly related to the surface H* and CO* coverages. Sensitivity analysis highlighted that CH 4 dissociation is the rate-determining step for ODRM reaction, and the adsorption-desorption steps are equilibrated. We were able to obtain a reduced mechanism (35 steps) for ODRM by applying a previously suggested hierarchical chemistry reduction strategy on the full mechanism (52 steps). The apparent activation energy for CH 4 consumption and orders of the reaction were also determined. Microkinetic modelling performed for ODRM reaction. Effects of temperature and space-time variations match well with experimental data. Sensitivity analysis was performed to provide a reduced mechanism.