Abstract: The fuel energy consumption of heater accounts for a large proportion of the total energy consumption ofcrude oil pipeline transportation. Energy-saving coating can increase the tube blackness and wall reflectivity of the heaterwithout changing its structure, and then improve its thermal efficiency. Thus, it can be widely used in various heaters. Inthe application test of thin-film ceramic coating with high emissivity, thermal test with positive and negative balance wasadopted. The thermal test was conducted to the heater at 45% and 75% load before and after coating respectively, and theresults indicate that the energy-saving efficiency of heater under the two load conditions is excellent, reaching 4.59% and5.72% respectively. Therefore, the thin film ceramic coating with high emissivity can improve the efficiency and reduce theunit energy consumption of the heater, and thus, it has significant economic benefits and is suitable for popularization andapplication.