MIRDC's Enduring-High-Efficiency Combustion System for Industrial Furnace (EHE Combustion System) received 2024 R&D 100 Awards. The furnace is equipped with self-recuperative burners which are operated by intelligent burner operating principle (IntelliBurn).

The burners draw furnace flue gas into their internal heat exchangers, and thermal energy from the high-temperature flue gas is transferred to combustion air. The process preheats the combustion air before it is burned. However, heat exchangers within the self-recuperative burners will gradually decrease in energy-saving efficiency because of issues such as material degradation from thermal shock, carbon accumulation and other problems. Under the IntelliBurn computational framework, the integration of AI machine learning and big data predicts heat release and determines the required furnace power. Therefore, the IntelliBurn dynamically controls multi-burners by adjusting their ignition timings and switching modes based on real-time furnace conditions for optimal performances. As a result, the EHE Combustion System achieves up to 72% waste heat recovery, Plus-Minus 3 degrees Celsius temperature uniformity, and 25% energy savings. Heat-exchange efficiency is also maintained at over 95% of initial capability of heat exchangers.

The technology has been applied to two Taiwanese companies by renovating their old furnaces. A foundry renovates its annealing furnace for castings, and temperature uniformity of its renovated furnace improves from Plus-Minus 20 degrees Celsius to Plus-Minus 10 degrees Celsius. This ensures that the deformation and vibration modes of each casting become stable, meeting requirements of high-end machine tool models and saving over 20% energy. MIRDC also assists an aluminum company to improve its heat treatment furnace with this technology. The renovated furnace helps the company process 190 tons of large aluminum ingots and achieves 270 tons of carbon reduction annually. In the future, MIRDC will continue to put its efforts behind perfecting the technology and introduce it to more Taiwanese industries.