A two-dimensional (2D) pseudo-homogeneous reactor model was developed to simulate the performance of fixed-bed reactors for catalytic coupling reaction of carbon monoxide to diethyl oxalate. Reactor modeling was performed using a comprehensive numerical model consisting of two-dimensional coupled material and energy balance equations. A power law kinetic model was applied for simulating the catalytic coupling reaction with considering one main-reaction and two side-reactions. The validity of the reactor model was tested against the measured data from different-scale demonstration processes and satisfactory agreements between the model prediction and measured results were obtained. Furthermore, detailed numerical simulations were performed to investigate the effect of major operation parameters on the reactor behavior of fixed bed for catalytic coupling reaction of carbon monoxide to diethyl oxalate, and the result shows that the coolant temperature is the most sensitive parameter. (C) 2011 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.