Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Boilers, furnaces and stoves: Equipment and suppliers

Burner, tubes, economiser: the anatomy of a boiler

What this tab covers For each method, the main pieces of equipment, who makes them (by region) and what they are made of (bill of materials).

A combustion heat system is a burner, a heat exchanger (boiler tubes, furnace chamber or stove body), heat recovery, and controls.

Industrial steam boiler

Boiler pressure vessel and tubes7914151617

Holds water and steam and transfers flame and flue heat into it.

United States Babcock and Wilcox, Cleaver-Brooks (Miura), Fulton, Babcock Power Europe Bosch Industriekessel, Andritz, Valmet, Steinmüller Engineering Japan and Korea Miura, Mitsubishi Power, Doosan China Harbin Electric (Harbin Boiler) India Thermax, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Forbes Marshall
Bill of materials
  • Shell and tubes: carbon steel pressure parts; alloy steel for superheater tubes
  • Lining: refractory and insulation
  • Burner and fan: steel burner head, combustion air fan, gas train and flame safeguard
Economiser and air preheater31416

Recover flue heat into feedwater or combustion air; DOE efficiency values assume one is fitted.

United States Babcock and Wilcox, Cleaver-Brooks India Thermax
Bill of materials
  • Heat exchanger: finned steel or stainless-steel tubes

Residential and commercial gas boiler

Condensing boiler4818

Burns gas and recovers latent heat from exhaust for radiators and hot water.

Europe Vaillant Group, BDR Thermea, Viessmann, Ariston, Immergas, Ferroli United States A. O. Smith, Bradford White, Lennox, Carrier
Bill of materials
  • Primary and secondary heat exchangers: corrosion-resistant stainless steel or aluminium alloy, needed because condensate is acidic
  • Burner, fan and gas valve: premix burner with modulating fan
  • Controls: electronic ignition and sealed combustion

Household cooking

Improved biomass and LPG stoves1011

Contain the fire, direct heat to the pot and cut smoke.

Rest of world BURN Manufacturing (Kenya; nearly 4.4 million stoves made and distributed, company figure), TotalEnergies (France; LPG to more than 50 million people in Africa and Asia, company figure)
Bill of materials
  • Stove body: sheet steel with ceramic or refractory liner (biomass); burner, valve and hose (LPG)
  • Fuel container: steel LPG cylinder

Sources

  1. Benchmark the Fuel Cost of Steam Generation, Steam Tip Sheet #15 (DOE/GO-102012-3391) US Department of Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office, 2012
  2. Furnaces and Boilers US Department of Energy, Energy Saver, 2025
  3. Industrial Boilers Market Share (market research; used only for smaller packaged-boiler names) Global Market Insights, 2024
  4. Europe Residential Boiler Market Share (market research) Global Market Insights, 2023
  5. Japanese Boiler Manufacturer Acquires Cleaver-Brooks ACHR News, 2024
  6. BURN Manufacturing, sector directory Clean Cooking Alliance, 2025
  7. TotalEnergies Takes Action to Give Access to Clean Cooking to 100 Million People in Africa and India TotalEnergies via Business Wire, 2024
  8. Babcock and Wilcox Enterprises, Form 10-K for 2025 Babcock and Wilcox Enterprises / US SEC, 2026
  9. About Bosch Industriekessel (company page) Bosch Industriekessel, 2025
  10. Integrated Annual Report 2024-25: Corporate overview Thermax, 2025
  11. Annual Report 2023 Harbin Electric Company Limited, 2024
  12. EIB supports Vaillant Group's research and development for climate-friendly heating systems European Investment Bank, 2022