This paper investigates, for the first time, the characteristics of ashes resulting from oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustion of a Victorian brown coal. The experimental results showed that the bed ash composition was independent of the reactor temperature and feed gas concentration in the combustion environment. No bed agglomeration was observed under oxy-fuel combustion conditions, even with the addition of steam, at 800-900 degrees C temperatures during the period of the tests. It is expected that agglomeration is unlikely to be a major problem during oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustion of this Victorian brown coal. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.