When detailed, accurate chemical kinetics are included, supercomputers are necessary for the numerical solution of fluid dynamics equations. In the present study, the combustion of methane at the surface of a catalytic plate will be studied numerically, in parallel with an experimental program supported on other monies. In this manner, validity of the models for such phenomena will be tested in a generic fashion, providing a leap forward in predictive combustion techniques. Reliable combustion predictive techniques would relieve tomorrow's designers of the burden and expenses of the traditional "cut and weld" approach. This is especially true of catalytic reactions, as they have the potential for a more efficient control of combustion in automobile and gas turbine engines.
