Removal of the product from the top of the reactor enables a decreased disengaging height and provides a passive means of controlling the bed level despite deposition increasing the weight and height of the bed. The savings from reducing the disengaging height allow use of a taller fluidized bed in a shorter overall reactor length and thus provides increased production with reduced reactor cost. The separation of the gas inlet from the product outlet allows the gas inlet area to be cooler than the product outlet. The separation of the product grinding, caused by the inlet gas, from the product outlet reduces the loss of seed in the product and produces a more uniform product. Removing the hot product and the hot gas at the same place allows energy recovery from both in a single step.