Methane steam reforming unraveled by the MicroKinetic Engine, a user-friendly kinetic modeling tool Devocht, B.R. a , Toch, K. a , Kageyama, N. b , Fatemi, N. a , Oyama, S.T. b,c , Marin, G.B. a , Thybaut, J.W. a a Ghent University, Laboratory for Chemical Technology, Ghent, B-9052, Belgium b The University of Tokyo, Department of Chemical System Engineering, Tokyo, Japan c Environmental Catalysis and Nanomaterials Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0211, United States Kinetic modeling forms the bridge between the phenomena occurring at the molecular and reactor scale. It results in a mathematical representation of the underlying reaction network and mechanism. The comparison between experimental observations and model simulations allows a critical evaluation of the assumptions made during model construction. This turns kinetic modeling into an important activity in chemical engineering. Moreover, the resulting models provide strategic information aiming at the optimization and intensification of industrial chemical reactors, and even entire processes. From an industrial point of view, global kinetic models such as power law or Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson (LHHW) models often provide sufficient information for process control and optimization. However, narrowing margins and increasing computational capabilities open up perspectives for more fundamental kinetic modeling, which, up to recently, was only exploited by academia. In addition, the shift towards green production processes underlines the need for a more detailed understanding of the more complex nature of biomass conversion. A broad spectrum of dedicated software tools with various features is available to construct such (micro)kinetic models. However, there is a significant induction period for novices in the field of kinetic modeling to get acquainted with the methodology, since a good, boundary-crossing knowledge between chemistry, mathematics, statistics and (chemo)informatics is required. In order to make fundamental kinetic modeling more accessible as well as to reduce the time spent for model construction, a user-friendly tool has been developed: the MicroKinetic Engine (μKE). MicroKinetic Engine (μKE) The μKE is a software package for the simulation and regression of chemical kinetics and even non-chemical applications such as solar cells characteristics simulation have been demonstrated with this tool. It has been developed during the last decade at the Laboratory for Chemical Technology, Ghent University, Belgium and was originally constructed for the detailed kinetic modeling of heterogeneously catalyzed reactions. In order to simulate different reactor types, both differential and algebraic equation solvers have been integrated in the software library. To enable model regression to experimental data, two deterministic regression routines are included, i.e., the Rosenbrock [1] and Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm [2]. A Graphical User Interface (GUI), see Figure 1 (left), is wrapped around all these routines such that no programming effort whatsoever is required from the μKE user, making it very distinct from other chemical modeling tools such as Athena Visual Studio (http://www.athenavisual.com/) or Chemkin (http://www.reactiondesign.com/products/chemkin/chemkin-2/).