Reactor systems, reactor coolant systems, and associated processes for polymerizing polyolefins are described. The reactor systems generally include a reactor pipe and a coolant system, in which the coolant system includes a jacket pipe surrounding at least a portion of the reactor pipe to form an annulus therebetween, at least one spacer coupling the jacket to the reactor pipe, and a coolant which flows through the annulus to remove heat from the reactor pipe. At least one of the external surface of the reactor pipe, the internal surface of the jacket, and at least one spacer, are independently modified, for example by polishing, coating, or reshaping, to reduce the fluid resistance of the coolant flow through the annulus.

Processes and associated reaction systems for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane are provided. In particular, a process is provided that comprises supplying a feed gas comprising ethane and oxygen to a multitubular fixed-bed reactor and allowing the ethane and oxygen to react in the presence of an oxidative dehydrogenation catalyst to yield a reactor effluent comprising ethylene; and supplying a coolant to an interior shell space of the multitubular fixed-bed reactor in a flow pattern that is co-current with the flow of the feed gas through reactor.

A tube heat exchange reactor for carrying out an endothermic catalytic reaction. The tube heat exchange reactor includes: an outer tube with a first and a second end, where the first end is an inlet end and where the second end is a closed end, an inner tube coaxially arranged within the outer tube and spaced apart from the outer tube, where at least a part of the inner tube holds a bed of catalyst material susceptible for induction heating and where the inner tube has an inlet end and an outlet end, an induction coil placed within the annular space confined between the outer and the inner tube, and a power source arranged to supply alternating current to the induction coil in order to generate an alternating magnetic field within at least a part of the inner tube.

A process for producing olefins by cracking paraffins in the presence of methane. In the conventional steam cracking processes for olefin production, steam is used as a diluent in the feed mixture to the thermal cracker. In the processes provided herein, methane replaces steam as a diluent in the feed mixture to the thermal cracker. Replacing steam with methane as a diluent has a potential for cost savings in the construction and operation of a thermal cracking plant for olefin production. In addition, it leads to a much simpler cracking process compared to the conventional steam cracking technology as in the state of the art.

Processes and associated reaction systems for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane are provided. In particular, a process is provided that comprises supplying a feed gas comprising ethane and oxygen to a multitubular fixed-bed reactor, allowing the ethane and oxygen to react in the presence of an oxidative dehydrogenation catalyst to yield a reactor effluent comprising ethylene; supplying a coolant to an upstream region of an interior shell space of the reactor in a flow pattern that is counter-current with the flow of the feed gas; and withdrawing the coolant from the upstream region and supplying at least a portion of the coolant withdrawn from the upstream region to the downstream region in a flow pattern that is co-current with the flow of the feed gas.

A reactor, which includes a reactor body and two reactor ends sealing the ends of the reactor body, a plurality of reactor tubes extending inside the reactor body at least partially between the reactor ends, and at least one heat pipe disposed inside at least one of the reactor tubes.

A furnace for performing an endothermic process, comprising tubes containing a catalyst for converting a gaseous feed, wherein tubes are positioned in rows inside the furnace, wherein burners are mounted between the tubes and between the tubes and the furnace walls parallel to the tubes rows, and wherein the burners rows and the tubes rows are ended by end walls and are divided into sections with, on each row of tubes, the distance from a wall end tube to the end wall being T2W, the distance between two adjacent inner tubes in a section being T2T, and the distance between two symmetry end tubes of two adjacent sections being T2S, wherein the tubes in the rows are arranged in such a way that the ratios T2T/T2W and T2T/T2S are greater than 0.5 and smaller than 2 thus limiting the differences in the heat transfer to the outer tubes (wall end tubes and symmetry end tubes) with respect to the inner tubes and reducing the temperature difference between outer tubes and inner tubes.

A heat exchanger having a housing, which defines a first volume (V1), and having at least one conduit, which defines a second volume (V2), wherein the housing has an inlet and an outlet and at least one first opening and at least one second opening located opposite the first opening relative to the housing, wherein the at least one conduit extends through the first volume (V1) and connects the at least one first opening of the housing and the at least one second opening of the housing, and is connected at the two ends of the conduit to the housing in a fluid-tight manner. In order to provide a heat exchanger which has an improved possibility for compensating for the differential thermal expansion of the housing and the conduits, the at least one conduit does not extend in a linear manner inside the first volume (V1), and the at least one conduit is monolithically connected in the region of the first opening of the conduit and/or the second opening of the conduit to the housing.

Process for the production of thermally modified starch comprising the steps of mixing starch in powder form having a specific moisture content with an alkaline water solution to obtain a wet powder; feeding a continuous flow of said wet powder into a continuous dryer together with a continuous flow of hot air; discharging a continuous flow of dried powder from said continuous drier; supplying said continuous flow of said dried powder into a turbo-reactor, in which the inner wall of said turbo-reactor is maintained at a specific temperature; converting said dried powder into a thermally inhibited starch; and discharging said thermally inhibited starch from said turbo-reactor; it is also disclosed a thermally inhibited starch obtained from the aforementioned process with enhanced physical chemical properties.

A process for conducting an exothermic reaction in a vertical tubular reactor comprising; providing a reactor with two or more reaction zones each containing multiple tubes attached to common tube sheets at top and bottom, each zone separated by segmented baffles in the top head and the bottom head.