The CVD growth of 4H SiC is investigated in a vertical hot-wall reactor in both up-flow (the chimney reactor) and down-flow (the inverted chimney) orientations. The growth rate and the nitrogen doping are studied for comparison. Under the investigated process conditions the growth mechanism is shown to be similar in these two reactor orientations. Only slight difference is observed in the temperature effect depending on the flow direction. Both reactor types have produced epilayers with high growth rates (10-35 mum/h) and low residual n-type doping (low 10(16) down to mid 10(13) cm(-3)) with comparable morphology. Dimensionless flow numbers are used to provide a qualitative analysis of the flow and heat transfer mechanisms in the vertical hot-wall system. Two-dimensional numerical simulation in a cylindrical geometry is conducted to demonstrate the flow and temperature profile with selected process parameters. Comparison of the experimental results in the chimney and the inverted chimney is performed to give insight into the fast epitaxial hot-wall growth. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.