Pulverized coal injection (PCI) is employed in blast furnace tuyeres, attempting to maximize the injection rate without increasing the amount of unburned char inside the stack of the blast furnace. When coal is injected with air through the injection lance, the resolidified char will burn in an atmosphere with a progressively lower oxygen content and higher CO2 concentration. In this study an experimental approach was followed to separate the combustion process into two distinct devolatilization and combustion steps. Initially coal was injected into a drop tube furnace (DTF) operating at 1300 degrees C in an atmosphere with a low oxygen concentration to ensure the combustion of volatiles and prevent the formation of soot. Then the char was refired into the DTF at the same temperature under two different atmospheres O-2/N-2 (typical combustion) and O-2/CO2 (oxy-combustion) with the same oxygen concentration. Coal injection was also performed under a higher oxygen concentration in atmospheres typical for both combustion and oxy-combustion. The fuels tested comprised a petroleum coke and coals currently used for PCI injection ranging from high volatile to low volatile bituminous rank. Thermogravimetric analyses and microscopy techniques were used to establish the reactivity and appearance of the chars. Overall similar burnouts were achieved with N-2 and CO2 for similar oxygen concentrations and therefore no loss in burnout should be expected as a result of enrichment in CO2 in the blast furnace gas. The advantage of increasing the amount of oxygen in a reacting atmosphere during burnout was found to be greater, the higher the rank of the coal. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.