Once the methane concentration reaches the explosion limit, it may be ignited by coal fires in methane rich and coal combustion-prone longwall mining gobs. Therefore, the methane migration in the area of spontaneous combustion of coal is important for evaluating the safety risk and revealing the formation mechanism of methane explosions. A self-designed experimental platform of a longwall gob was applied to investigate the methane migration process induced by the spontaneous combustion of coal. The effect of temperature, and range of coal spontaneous combustion on the methane distribution was studied, and the potential area subject to a methane explosion was identified and calculated quantitatively. Furthermore, the methane movement near the area of spontaneously combusting coal was analyzed, and the mechanism of methane accumulation was proposed. The results illustrate that the changes in the temperature and the range of spontaneous combustion of coal affect the migration of the methane concentration in the gobs. (C) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.