There is provided a combustion furnace controller. The controller includes: a common control module (14) configured to control an overall operation of a combustion furnace (10) by verifying the state of a first interlock for a safe operation of the combustion furnace and then generating common control signals required for the safe operation of the combustion furnace; and combustion zone control modules (15) each provided for a corresponding one of combustion zones (A,B,C) of the combustion furnace and being configured to control an operation of one or more burners (11) provided in the corresponding combustion zone by verifying the state of a second interlock for a combustion environment in the corresponding combustion zone and a corresponding one of the common control signals, wherein the combustion zone control modules and the common control module are provided in a hierarchical manner.
