High-performance cracker

A pyrolytic furnace for hydrocarbon cracking, said furnace comprising:

• an enclosure having a longitudinal axis;
• a convection section divided into convection sub-sections in side-by-side relation along the longitudinal axis of said enclosure;
• a radiant section divided into radiant sub-sections in side-by-side relation along the longitudinal axis of said enclosure, each of said radiant sub-sections corresponding to one of said convection sub-sections together forming a furnace sector;
• at least one convection conduit positioned in each of said convection sub-sections for carrying hydrocarbon process fluid, and at least one radiant conduit positioned in each of said radiant sub-sections for carrying preheated hydrocarbon process fluid, wherein each convection conduit is contained entirely within its respective convection sub-section and is coupled for fluid flow communication with said at least one radiant conduit;
• and
• plural heat sources positioned to introduce heat into said radiant section and said convection section of said furnace, wherein each heat source is positioned to deliver heat into a single sector of said furnace.

A method of operating a pyrolytic furnace comprising the steps of:

• (a) distributing hydrocarbon process fluid into a convection section of a discrete sector of the furnace;
• (b) transferring pre-heated hydrocarbon process fluid from the convection section of the discrete sector into at least one corresponding radiant section of the discrete sector;
• and
• (c) delivering heat into the at least one radiant section of the discrete sector of the furnace to crack the pre-heated hydrocarbon process fluid within the radiant section of the discrete sector and into the convection section of the discrete sector to pre-heat the hydrocarbon process fluid within the convection section of the discrete sector, wherein the heat is substantially concentrated in the discrete sector of the furnace.