Commercial opportunities are seen for chemical process applications employing vibrated powders: in reactors catering to non-steady-state gas-solid reaction kinetics; in non-fouling, non-corroding heat exchangers; in flash pyrolysis of coal working in tandem with fluid-bed combustion, yielding char for the combustion and a light oil useful (with little or no further treatment), for example, in a gas turbine generating peak-load power; in a system employing a Geldart Group A powder [D. Geldart, Powder Technol. 7 (1973), 285]; to carry heat over a relatively long distance (replacing less convenient heat carriers, such as mercury, molten salts and condensed-ring hydrocarbons); in counter-current heat exchange between a "gravel" and a Group A powder; in flash distillation of shale oil. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.