The direct combustion of high-sulfur coal can cause serious problems such as the formation of acid rain; therefore, the desulfurization of high-sulfur coal before combustion can reduce environmental pollution. On the basis of an analysis of raw coal, the use of a compound dry separator is proposed in this paper to separate high-sulfur coal across the full size range of 80-0 mm. The effects of the vibration amplitude (A), frequency (f), and angle (0) on the separation results were systematically analyzed in this study. The results showed that when the high-sulfur coal was separated using the compound dry separator under the optimal vibration parameters off = 38 Hz, A = 2.6 mm, and theta = 46.5 degrees, the yields of the concentrate and tailings were 71.24% and 28.76%, respectively, with corresponding sulfur contents of 0.93% and 28.59%. The probable error (E) was 0.145 with the largest degree of sulfur content segregation. Under these separation conditions, the acceleration at a clean coal segment increased by 58.06% compared with that at a gangue area; moreover, the material stratification at the clean coal segment was apparent, and the clean coal area was the main separation area. The stratification of dense material at the gangue area was poor, and the gangue area was mainly used to transport and discharge gangue. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.