The effects of dust collection from steelmaking plants on the combustion characteristics of pulverized coal were investigated. Three influencing factors including the dust types, addition method, and addition amount of dust on the catalytic combustion were determined. Four types of basic oxygen furnace (BOF) dust can improve the combustion reactivity and combustion efficiency to different extents. The catalytic effects include that the ignition/burnout temperatures was decreased, and the maximum combustion rate and heat release were increased. A smaller particle size, larger BET surface, developed pore structure, and higher amount of CaO in BOF dust are beneficial for improving the catalytic effects on coal combustion. When increasing the addition amount, the catalytic effects on coal combustion first increased and then decreased with an optimum rust-to-coal ratio of 1:30. The addition methods have significant effects on catalytic combustion. The mixture prepared through grinding after blending showed better combustion reactivity than that prepared through blending only, and the suspension blending displayed was better than that of dry blending. The pollutant gas evolution including CO and SO(2 )during coal combustion was suppressed by adding BOF dust, and the CO2 evolution was promoted owing to the transformation of CO into CO2. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.