The Senior Combustion Engineer is a technical leader responsible for driving combustion efficiency, emissions compliance, and burner performance in boilers, furnaces, or process heaters. This role involves strategic tuning of air-fuel systems, fuel flexibility assessments, flame diagnostics, and mentoring junior engineers. The position requires deep understanding of combustion science, hands-on tuning expertise, and cross-functional collaboration with controls, environmental, and operations teams.
Lead burner tuning programs to optimize combustion efficiency, heat rate, and emissions (NOx, CO, SOx, PM).
Develop and execute burner diagnostic protocols, including flame quality analysis, temperature profiling, and flue gas measurement.
Identify and mitigate combustion-related issues such as flame instability, fuel imbalances, slagging, fouling, and low unburned fuel loss.
Interface with DCS/PLC teams to refine combustion control strategies, including oxygen trim, excess air optimization, and staged combustion.
Oversee emissions reduction initiatives, including compliance with regulatory requirements (e.g., CPCB, EPA, ISO, or local standards).
Recommend and lead combustion system upgrades, retrofits, and integration of advanced burner technologies.
Provide technical support during startup, shutdown, and commissioning of boilers and combustion systems.
Evaluate fuel properties and their impact on combustion, especially in multi-fuel or alternate-fuel systems (coal, gas, biomass, RDF, etc.).
Mentor and train junior combustion and boiler engineers, and contribute to knowledge sharing.
Prepare comprehensive performance assessment reports, root cause analyses, and improvement roadmaps.
Advanced Burner Tuning & Performance Optimization
Drive high-efficiency, low-emission operation across varying loads and fuel types.
Emissions Compliance & Environmental Strategy
Ensure operations stay within environmental limits through proactive tuning and diagnostics.
Fuel Flexibility & Stability
Analyze and adapt burner performance to varied fuel types and changing fuel quality.
Technical Leadership
Lead combustion optimization campaigns and cross-functional performance improvement initiatives.
Controls Integration & System Upgrades
Collaborate with controls/instrumentation teams for advanced combustion control implementation.
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical, Chemical, Thermal, or Energy Engineering.
8–15 years of experience in combustion tuning, boiler optimization, or fuel systems engineering.
Strong knowledge of thermodynamics, heat transfer, flame dynamics, and emissions chemistry.
Proven hands-on experience with combustion analyzers, IR cameras, oxygen sensors, CEMS, and burner diagnostic tools.
Expertise in DCS/PLC-based control systems for combustion (e.g., Honeywell, Siemens, ABB).
Familiarity with low-NOx burners, OFA, FGR, air staging, and multi-burner optimization.
In-depth understanding of ASME, NFPA 85, ISO 50001, and environmental compliance standards.
Demonstrated ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams and manage performance improvement projects.