The results of experimental investigations on catalytic oxidation of coal mine ventilation air methane in a preheat catalytic reaction reactor is presented in this paper. The experimental system was located in the Energy Research Institute of Shandong University of Technology, which has been applied to investigate the effects of startup conditions such as the startup flow coefficient (0.3-0.5) and the startup power (10 kW-20 kW) on the startup process within the preheat catalytic reaction reactor. The average temperature distribution of catalytic oxidation bed and the minimal startup power were measured and the effects of operating conditions such as the space velocity (2600 h(-1) to 11,500 h(-1)) and the methane concentration (0.8%-1.2%) were experimentally investigated. Moreover, the methane conversion rate and the average temperature of the catalytic oxidation bed were discussed and the critical space velocity value and the critical methane concentration value were determined. Copyright (C) 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.