The explosivity of coal in Colombia is usually determined by chemical analysis based on the volatile ratio. To improve the assessment of the explosivity of those coals that have led to numerous explosions in Colombian mines, 22 coals from the department of Antioquia were analyzed. Flammability characteristic parameters were determined, such as minimum temperatures and energy for ignition and the lower explosive limit. Also explosion data, ie. Pmax and Kmax values were obtained. In addition, the susceptibility to spontaneous combustion was studied by thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry, together with chemical attack with hydrogen peroxide and also measuring the temperature of ignition of flammable volatiles. Finally the effect of particle size and the percentage range of limestone needed for inerting coal under two different granulometries were determined. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.