Surface Combustion Inc. was awarded a patent for the invention of delivery of atomized liquid hydrocarbons to yield a reactive atmosphere inside an industrial heat-treat furnace. The atmosphere may be comprised of any variety of hydrocarbons to create a carburizing, reducing or reactive atmosphere for materials processing. The patent also covers the application to an atmosphere generator (carrier gas) as well as acting as an enriching gas to increase carburizing potential. The delivery of hydrocarbons is metered and can be introduced in finite, pulsed-dosages to allow process control. The inventors include Ralph Poor, John Gottschalk and William Bernard Jr. The invention can be applied to Allcase® batch integral-quench carburizing furnaces, RX® endothermic gas generators or continuous carburizers.