Highly active composite catalysts having good thermal technical and mechanical properties were developed for the reactions at middle temperatures. These composite catalysts consist of the catalytic active component, metal powder and loosening material. These composites 3 have excellent heat-conductivity (above 10 W/(m K)) and strength. The catalyst loading to composite is as high as 1-1.2 g/cm(3). At that, catalysts retain their activities, while the effectiveness factors of the catalyst usage are even higher than for the traditional pellets in the tubular fixed bed reactor (e.g. 50% versus 35% for the water gas shift reaction). The scheme of catalyst layer design is proposed, having effective mass- and heat-exchange and low resistance to the reaction gas flow. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.