An internal combustion engine in which when the gas temperature of a fuel reformation chamber when a piston in a fuel reformation cylinder reaches the compression top dead point is estimated to be equal to or higher than a soot generation lower limit temperature set according to an equivalence ratio of the fuel reformation chamber, a reaction gas temperature adjusting operation for suppressing or reducing an increase in the reaction gas temperature in the fuel reformation chamber is executed. Further, a closing timing of an air-intake valve is changed to reduce an effective compression ratio of the fuel reformation chamber.

A method of equipment decontamination may include: introducing a cleaning stream comprising hydrogen and a solvent comprising a fatty acid methyl ester and an oxygenated solvent, or alternatively comprising a carrier fluid and a hydrocarbon solvent, into the equipment; and introducing a stream comprising nitrogen into the equipment, wherein the equipment comprises deposits and other contaminants.

A system and method is provided for upgrading a continuously flowing process stream including heavy crude oil (HCO). A reactor receives the process stream in combination with water, at an inlet temperature within a range of about 60 C. to about 200 C. The reactor includes one or more process flow tubes having a combined length of about 30 times their aggregated transverse cross-sectional dimension, and progressively heats the process stream to an outlet temperature T(max)1 within a range of between about 260 C. to about 400 C. The reactor maintains the process stream at a pressure sufficient to ensure that it remains a single phase at T(max)1. A controller selectively adjusts the rate of flow of the process stream through the reactor to maintain a total residence time of greater than about 1 minute and less than about 25 minutes.

In chemical processes for cracking hydrocarbons, reactors are subject to coking. This results in carburization of the metal substrate for the reactor leading to a reduced reactor life. If the reactor is subject to a decoke process, followed by a steam scour and nitriding there is a reduced tendency to carburization of the metal substrate improving the reactor life.

A self-cleaning conduit for a hydrocarbon fluid. The conduit includes a tube and a mesh. The tube has an interior surface defining a flow passage for the hydrocarbon fluid. The mesh is positioned within the flow passage to abut the interior surface and movable along the interior surface to break-up deposits on the interior surface. The mesh is characterized by a mesh activation parameter (MAP) from one ten thousandths to six tenths.

A self-cleaning conduit for a hydrocarbon fluid. The conduit includes a tube and a movable sleeve. The tube has an interior surface defining a flow passage for the hydrocarbon fluid. The movable sleeve is positioned within the flow passage to abut the interior surface and is movable along the interior surface in response to a change in an operating characteristic of the conduit to break-up deposits on the interior surface.

An equilibrium approach reactor with the ability to receive a highly variable gas and normalise it to a useful quality, and further to utilise the energy from the gas itself to robustly elevate the operating temperature, to ensure good mixing and high conversion while having the ability to handle solids in multiple states.

In an aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for the oxidative coupling of methane to generate hydrocarbon compounds containing at least two carbon atoms (C.sub.2+ compounds). The method can include mixing a first gas stream comprising methane with a second gas stream comprising oxygen to form a third gas stream comprising methane and oxygen and performing an oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) reaction using the third gas stream to produce a product stream comprising one or more C.sub.2+ compounds.

Soot removal process at or inside a synthesis gas- and/or CO-containing gas production apparatus using as feed gases carbon dioxide, steam, hydrogen and/or a hydrocarbon-containing residual gas and using electrical energy in RWGS processes, electrolyses for electrochemical decomposition of carbon dioxide and/or steam, reforming operations and/or synthesis gas production processes with at least one gas production unit, an electrolysis stack and/or a heater-reactor combination for performing an RWGS reaction and at least one cooling sector/recuperator for CO-containing gas and/or synthesis gas, and also a soot removal assembly. Formation of soot can be suppressed or prevented during gas cooling and soot that is nevertheless deposited can be removed again from the heat exchanger surface.

The present invention provides a fouling prevention method and a method for olefin oligomerization, wherein in the method for olefin oligomerization, a predetermined anti-fouling agent is added, thereby minimizing the production of sticking byproducts generated during the reaction and fundamentally preventing the fouling of the byproducts, generated during the reaction, on an inner wall of a reactor.