Methane Decomposition Kinetics over Fe2O3 Catalyst in Micro Fluidized Bed Reaction Analyzer

Micro fluidized bed (MFB) reactor offers a good way to determine the intrinsic kinetics of some reactions. For catalytic decomposition of methane (CMD), the hydrogen production rate appears much higher when catalyst is injected into an MFB reactor by pulse, in comparison with that via gas switching. The carbon nanotubes (CNTs) produced in an MFB were more dispersed than that in fixed bed. Therefore, the micro fluidized bed reaction analyzer (MFBRA) is proven to be an alternative tool for determining kinetics of methane decomposition and offering the values of higher reference for CMD in industrial fluidized beds. Kinetics of CMD and catalyst deactivation over Fe2O3 catalyst were studied using MFBRA at temperatures of 750–900 °C and partial pressures of methane of 0.22, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.0 atm. The reaction order and activation energy of CMD were estimated to be 2.27 and 50 kJ/mol, respectively.