Low rank coal (lignite) can be successfully utilized in thermal power plants through the pretreatment of the coal. The price of low rank coal is approximately one third that of steaming coal. However, it is difficult to utilize in thermal power plants due to its high moisture content, and instability. Therefore, a drying process must precede the coal entering the power plant. In this study, the drying kinetics of Indonesian low rank coal (IBC) was investigated in a fixed-bed reactor and thermobalance. In the fixed-bed reactor, the drying mechanism is best represented by a phase boundary reaction. Also, the drying kinetics was evaluated in terms of particle size, inlet gas temperature, drying time, gas velocity and the LID ratio. However, in a thermobalance, the moisture removal rate is mainly dependent on drying temperature. The rate equation for the drying of coal can be obtained from the experimental data. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.