Method and apparatus for managing the conversion of hydrocarbons into olefins

An apparatus and method are provided for processing hydrocarbon feeds. The method enhances the conversion of hydrocarbon feeds into ethylene. In particular, the present techniques expose feed containing hydrocarbons to high-severity operating conditions in a pyrolysis reactor and separate the reactor product from the reactor into a first product having hydrogen and a second product including ≧90 mole percent of the acetylene in the reactor product. Then, the second product is reacted with a catalyst in a converter to form ethylene.