A numerical controller drives motors for respective axes of a machine tool by using an NC program and table-format data that command positions of those axes with reference to a position of a reference axis. The process involves contacting a paraffinic hydrocarbon with oxygen in the presence of a catalyst under autothermal process conditions. The system controller determines to which of partitions that logically divide a system each system board corresponding to the ID received from the crossbar unit belongs and sends a stop command to stop driving of each system board belonging to the determined partition.