In an embodiment of the invention, furnace tubes for cracking hydrocarbons having a longitudinal array of pins having i) a maximum height from 0.5-1.3 cm; ii) a contact surface with the tube, having an area from 0.1%-10% of the tube external surface area iii) a uniform cross section along the length of the pin. (i.e. they are not tapered); and iv) a length to diameter ratio from 1.5:1 to 0.5:1 have an improved heat transfer over bare fins and reduced stress relative to a fined tube.

A new method and apparatus is applied to manufacture boehmite and sol gel abrasive grain with greatly reduced raw material cost. The raw material starts from alumina trihydrate, which is transferred to highly dispersible alumina monohydrate under hydrothermal treatment in an agitated zirconium-steel or titanium-steel cladding plate high pressure reactor. Then the highly dispersed and deionized sol is converted to sintered high-density microcrystalline ceramic abrasive grain by sol-gel process.

A feedstock reactor includes a reaction chamber for receiving a feedstock, a combustion chamber for receiving a combustible gas mixture, a passageway extending from the combustion chamber to the reaction chamber for allowing combustion products generated in the combustion chamber, by combustion of the combustible gas mixture, to flow into the reaction chamber, and a nozzle at an end of the passageway for allowing the combustion products flowing along the passageway to flow into the reaction chamber via the nozzle. The nozzle includes a nozzle wall along which the combustion products flow, and a heat-conducting portion positioned to transfer heat from the combustion products flowing through the nozzle away from the nozzle wall.

Apparatus and methods are provided for converting methane in a feed stream to acetylene. A hydrocarbon stream is introduced into a supersonic reactor and pyrolyzed to convert at least a portion of the methane to acetylene. The reactor effluent stream may be treated to convert acetylene to another hydrocarbon process.

In an embodiment of the invention, furnace tubes for cracking hydrocarbons having a longitudinal array of pins having i) a maximum height from 0.5-1.3 cm; ii) a contact surface with the tube, having an area from 0.1%-10% of the tube external surface area iii) a uniform cross section along the length of the pin. (i.e. they are not tapered); and iv) a length to diameter ratio from 1.5:1 to 0.5:1 have an improved heat transfer over bare fins and reduced stress relative to a fined tube.

A device includes a rotatable centrifuge container that includes a process cavity, at least one inlet into the process cavity, and at least one outlet out of the process cavity. A thermal target is disposed in the process cavity. A laser source is configured to emit a laser beam into the process cavity onto the thermal target. The laser beam heats the thermal target and the thermal target heats the process cavity.