Dry reforming experiments are performed for five different CH4/CO2 ratios at three different operating temperatures. The focus of the work is on the short-term catalyst deactivation due to carbon deposition and analysis of the nature and structure of deposited carbon at CH4/CO2 ratio of 2, which is typical for biogas. The dry reforming experiments indicate that the short-term deactivation is insignificant at an equimolar ratio of CH4 and CO2. The rate of carbon deposition becomes faster at higher CH4/CO2 ratios and higher temperatures. CH4 and CO2 conversions and the exit mole fraction of CO and H2 confirm the occurrence of the reverse water-gas shift reaction. Characterization of the spent catalyst and deposited carbon is performed using XRD, TGA, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopies, which indicates the presence of graphitic carbon and carbon nanostructures. © 2015 American Chemical Society.