Methane Pyrolysis Reactor 2D — Arrhenius Kinetics Simulator

Reactor Conditions

Temperature 900 °C

CH₄ feed rate 1.0 mol/min

Catalyst Bed

Live Readouts

CH₄ conversion

0.0%

Residence time τ

0.0 s

H₂ output

0.00 mol/min

Carbon deposited

0.0 g

k(T) = A·e^(−Ea/RT) = 0.0 s⁻¹

How it works

Methane pyrolysis (thermal or catalytic cracking) splits methane directly into solid carbon and hydrogen gas — no oxygen, no CO₂:

CH4 → C(s) + 2 H2(g)      ΔH ≈ +74.8 kJ/mol

Unlike steam-methane reforming, the carbon leaves as a solid ("turquoise hydrogen") instead of CO2 gas, so the process is inherently low-carbon if the process heat comes from clean electricity. The reaction rate follows Arrhenius kinetics, and for a plug-flow reactor with residence time τ the fractional conversion is:

k(T) = A · exp(−Ea / R·T)
τ = V0 / feed rate   (space time, seconds)
X  = 1 − exp(−k·τ)

A nickel catalyst lowers the activation energy Ea from roughly 380 kJ/mol (bare thermal cracking, needs >1100 °C) to about 130 kJ/mol, letting useful conversion happen near 700–900 °C. A carbon-bed (autocatalytic — fresh carbon product catalyzes further decomposition) sits in between, around 900–1100 °C.

Temperature slider — sets T in the Arrhenius rate constant k(T); the bottom chart plots the whole conversion curve live and marks where you sit on it.
Feed rate slider — higher feed shortens residence time τ = V0/feed, which lowers conversion for the same T (the marker slides down the curve).
Catalyst buttons — swap Ea/A, redrawing the entire conversion-vs-temperature curve, not just the marker.
Drag the reactor view to pan along the tube axis, scroll/pinch to zoom — useful once the carbon pile grows past one screen.
Green particles are unreacted CH4, cyan are H2 leaving the outlet, black are solid carbon settling and piling up on the reactor floor.

CH4 (unreacted) H2 (product) Solid carbon

drag to pan · scroll to zoom

Conversion X(T) — Arrhenius curve

Methane Pyrolysis Reactor 2D — Turquoise Hydrogen Production