A dimension-reducing method for calculating the radiant heat transfer with two-dimensional characteristics is introduced in this article. Using this dimension-reducing method, the two-dimensional discrete transfer method (DTM) was applied to a cylindrical enclosure where the medium was absorptive and emissive. The two-dimensional DTM was proved to produce equivalent prediction results as the three-dimensional radiation computation. Then the two-dimensional DTM was incorporated into a general pulverized coal combustion model to estimate radiant heat transfer. The temperature distribution and the net heat flux distribution of an axisymmetric pilot furnace, in which three kinds of lignite were burned, respectively, were calculated using the comprehensive model. The prediction using this model has been found to have a high agreement with the measured data, that the temperature errors was at 5% and the net heat flux error was at about 15%. The results have demonstrated the feasibility and potential of using the two-dimensional DTM for radiation modeling in pulverized coal flame, and confirmed that the dimension-reducing method and the overall model will be simple and convenient for engineers to use.