The behavior of trace elements in four coals during entrained-bed coal gasification in a 50t/d plant (HYCOL) was characterised by their distribution in solid, water and gas. More volatile elements were present in dust from water scrubbing (cake) than in slag from the gasifier. The cake contained submicron particles. Results from leaching tests on slag and cake showed that water emissions were below the regulatory limit. More than 90% of the coal sulfur was liberated and converted to H2S and COS in the syngas and a few percent of the coal nitrogen converted to NH3 and HCN. Since almost all NH3 and HCN can be removed by water scrubbing, their contents in syngas were less than a few ppm. The scrubbing system will remove a significant proportion of submicron particles and nitrogen compounds from syngas. The trace elements in syngas and the elements possibly accumulated in the plant devices must be measured directly to understand the behavior more precisely.