A continuously operated flow setup with fixed-bed reactor and online gas analysis enabled kinetic investigations of catalysts for the carbon dioxide reforming of methane under industrially relevant conditions at temperatures up to 1000 A degrees C and at pressures up to 20 bar. A coaxial reactor design consisting of an inner- and an outer highly alloyed steel tube allowed obtaining axial temperature profiles by means of a moveable thermocouple. A NiAl2O4-based catalyst was tested at 820 A degrees C and pressures of 1, 10 or 20 bar and compared to a conventional Ni catalyst used for steam reforming of methane. A significant cold spot was detected even when using only 10 mg of catalysts diluted in 1 g of silicon carbide. The specifically designed NiAl2O4/Al2O3 dry reforming catalyst with a high dispersion of the active Ni-0 phase was found to be far superior to the conventional steam reforming catalyst. [GRAPHICS] .