Donghao Ma, “Kinetic Study of WGSR over Iron-Based Catalysts in a Membrane Reactor,” M. S. Thesis, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Dept. of Chemical Engineering (2001).

The kinetics of water-gas shift reaction (WGSR) over iron-oxide catalyst (magnetite) under the conditions of a membrane reactor are studied experimentally and theoretically in order to evaluate the performance of the catalyst. An 8-step mechanism of WGSR is proposed and well fit to a large set of experimental data. A membrane reactor model is developed and used to simulate the reaction. Both experiments and simulations show that CO₂ inhibits the WGSR over iron oxide catalyst and the iron oxide catalyst is not suitable for use in a membrane reactor. Simulation results also show that better reducibility may improve the performance of iron-based catalysts by reducing the CO₂ inhibition effect. Experimental results also suggest that cerium promoted iron oxide catalyst is not suitable for use in a membrane reactor either.