An experimental study is described of the structure of a flat, premixed, laminar, coal-air flame, with some methane added for flame stability. A low-pressure burner, at a combustion pressure of 30.4 kPa, was employed, in order to extend the reaction zone. Gas temperatures were measured by the CARS technique and the C-2 emissions observed with the laser diagnostics were found to depend upon the laser power. Concentration profiles of permanent species also were measured over a range of equivalence ratios. Measured values are compared with those predicted by a mathematical model, which assumes that CH4 and HCN devolatilize from the coal and react in the gas phase. Allowance also is made for reactions of char and radiative heat transfer. The model gives good predictions of the temperature and oxygen concentration profiles, while predictions of NO are somewhat higher than those measured. Formation of NO is favored by OH and removal of it by NH2 and NH. The sensitivity of the modeled results to various activation energies and pre-Arrhenius constants is examined and optimal values of these are in line with other values in the literature. The principal limitation in the model is the overprediction of CO concentration. An explanation of this lies in the formation, neglected in the model, of tarry structures of high molecular mass, followed by the generation of soot. This interpretation is supported by the measured profiles of C-2 emission intensity and their dependence upon the laser power, in contrast to the weaker emissions from rich CH4-air flames, which show no such dependence and are less persistent. (C) 2001 by The Combustion Institute.