Pulverized coal is important for gasification to convert carbonaceous fuel to gaseous products with a usable heating value; it is cohesive with a poor flowability, typical of Group C powders. The fluidization behaviors of pulverized coal in a fluidization column and in a Perspex hopper were investigated. The pulverized coal was extremely hard to be fluidized and its experimental incipient fluidizing velocity was much larger than expected. The discharge of pulverized coal from a carbon steel hopper under several aeration rates was studied. Four flow regions were developed, and the major phenomena that occurred during the discharge were analyzed. The mechanism of aerated discharge was probably the integration of various effects, all of which were confirmed by the experimental data. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.