The current efficiency of monolithic (including two-layer) radiant porous burners is less than 25% and here we introduce a novel structure for effective preheating and radiation routing to increase the efficiency. This recovers the flue gas heat to increase the inlet air temperature and raises the flame temperature locally above the adiabatic temperature (superadiabatic flame) for the fuel-lean conditions. The heat from the superadiabatic region is then extracted and conducted through embedded, high-thermal conductivity radiation corridors and is radiated, at a higher temperature than the flue gas, to the target. The analyses of local thermal non-equilibrium among the gas phase, two-layer porous solid, preheating heat exchanger, and radiant corridor are presented for the zeroth-order reaction of premixed methane/air. Radiant burner efficiency over 45% is predicted. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.