The objective of this work was to investigate the thermal decomposition of various bituminous coal blends. Three Polish coals of varying rank (82.7, 86.2 and 88.7 wt.% carbon content) and caking ability (weak, moderate and strong) were collected from the Krupifiski, Szczyglowice and Zofiowka mines, respectively. These coals were used to prepare binary and ternary blends. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) were used. The weight loss and heat flow during pyrolysis, and storage/loss elastic modulus measured as a function of increasing temperature were related to the caking ability of coals. Parameters determined with the TGA and the DSC methods in the binary and ternary blends were correlated with the proportion of strongly-caking-coal concentration in the blend. The weight loss of coal blends was found to be additive parameter. The DSC thermograms of binary blends were found to be different from those of the ternary blends, which suggests a different course for this blend pyrolysis. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.