Abstract: To study the spontaneous combustion characteristics of different rank coals, HM lignite, ZX long flame coal, DHS gas coal, DL lean coal, ZLS anthracite coal were taken as research objects, and the parameters of five coal samples were measured by temperature programmed experiment and thermogravimetric analysis experiment. The gaseous products, heating effect change and kinetic parameters of 5 coal samples were analyzed. The experimental results show that in the low temperature oxidation stage, the amount of CO and CO₂ production and the initial production temperature increase significantly with the decrease of the metamorphism degree; the order of mass loss and heat release at low temperature is the HM lignite > ZX long flame coal > Jinta gas coal > ZLS anthracite> DL lean coal. The order of the activation energy is HM lignite < ZX long flame < Jinta gas coal < ZLS anthracite < DL lean coal. The activation energy increase significantly with the increase of the degree of coal metamorphism. ZLS anthracite has higher pyrite content(S>3%), so its heat release intensity and activation energy at low temper-ature stage are higher than DL lean coal.