Steam reforming of methane ( ) produces "synthesis gas," a mixture of carbon monoxide gas and hydrogen gas, which is the starting point for many important industrial chemical syntheses. An industrial chemist studying this reaction fills a tank with of methane gas and of water vapor, and when the mixture has come to equilibrium measures the amount of carbon monoxide gas to be . Calculate the concentration equilibrium constant for the steam reforming of methane at the final temperature of the mixture. Round your answer to significant digits.

The effect of crystal size on carbon formation and sintering was

studied on nickel catalysts at steam reforming conditions. Different nickel

supported catalysts were examined. As support three commercial

hydrotalcites were used: HT30 (MgO/Al2O3 = 3/7), HT50 (MgO/Al2O3 =

5/5) and HT70 (MgO/Al2O3 = 7/3). These supports were compared with

CaO-Al2O3 and α-Al2O3. For the sintering experiments an industrial

Ni/CaAl2O4 catalyst was used for comparison. The hydrotalcite derived

catalysts had different Mg/Al ratios and the lowest Mg/Al ratio gave the

highest Ni dispersion. The hydrotalcite derived catalysts also had a higher

dispersion than NiO/CaO-Al2O3, NiO/α-Al2O3 and Ni/CaAl2O4.