The slurrying ability of XiMeng brown coal thermally modified at medium- to low-temperature (100 degrees C-350 degrees C) was investigated. We discussed the mechanism for improving the slurrying ability of brown coal by thermal treatment considering the coal properties, surface micro-topography, microscopic pore structure, and the moisture reabsorption characteristics. The results suggest that medium- to low-temperature thermal treatment can remove the internal moisture content of brown coal, which decreases from 19.42% (raw coal) to 1.8% after treatment at 350 degrees C for 0.5 h. The coal rank is increased as Ago increases from 2.99 of raw coal to 4.88 of 350 degrees C. The coal surface becomes smooth and the shape becomes regular. With increasing thermal modification temperature, the surface area and BJH desorption pore volume of the coal samples first increased and then decreased, and the average pore diameter increased. All these phenomena improve the slurrying ability of brown coal. Higher thermal modification temperatures and longer time duration result in lower equilibrium moisture content of coal after moisture reabsorption. However, when the time is more than 0.5 h, its effect on the equilibrium moisture content is limited. The most suitable thermal modification temperature for improving the slurrying ability is between 200 degrees C and 250 degrees C. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.