This article describes a proven method of designing the fuel-ignition process on sintering machines. The process is designed to be executed with certain presribed characteristics and can be used to develop small efficient hearths with freely mounted burners that operate without special blocks on machines having strands 2-4 m wide. The uniform temperature field created by the burners, the high residual oxygen content of the condition products, the possibility of regulating temperature along and across the hearth, and the small dimensions of the equipment make the new ignition hearth promising as a means of realizing the flame ignition of sintering-machine charges.