Direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC), as a high efficiency and low emissions power generation device, can convert the chemical energy stored in coal directly into electricity without combustion process. In present works, the performance of DCFC with Shenfu bituminous coal as fuel has been investigated in the temperature range 650-850 degrees C. It has been shown that coal composition, microstructure, chemical characteristics are closely related to the performance of DCFC. The anode solid residues have been analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the exhaust gas has been investigated by gas chromatography (GS). The results show that pyrolysis gas such as H-2, CO and short hydrocarbons (e.g. CH4, C-2-C-4) can be used as fuels to improve the performance of DCFC. The ash of coal plays a vital role in performance of DCFC. The experimental results reveal the higher ash content in coal is; the worse the performance of DCFC is. Anode atmosphere is an important factor on affecting the performance of DCFC, and the maximum power density of DCFC can reach 31.3 mW cm(-2) when the carrier gas is not used. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.