Abstract: Methane steam reforming (MSR) reaction rate is an important factor affecting the performance of methane fueled solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). Ni is the most common catalyst for MSR in SOFC. There are large discrepancies in the Ni catalyzed MSR kinetic models proposed by different experiments. Moreover, the experiments for all the MSR kinetic models use methane with relatively high steam content, rendering the kinetic models unsuitable for the study of low steam methane fueled SOFCs.The major MSR kinetic models are surveyed here with the analysis of their similarities and differences. Based on the analysis and a new MSR kinetic model found for methane with low steam content, a unifying MSR kinetic model applicable for any steam content was deduced. The model is capable of explaining the confusion phenomenon that different steam reaction orders are observed by different experiments. It also provides good fits to the experimental data obtained under conditions such as different steam compositions and different working temperatures.

Key words: reaction kinetics, rate equation, activation energy, steam reaction order, solid oxide fuel cell