Syngas, as one cleaner and efficient approach to coal utilization, has been widely regarded as one promising alternative fuel. Owing to the existence of hydrogen molecule, syngas has a great potential to explosion which would be favoured by thermo-power devices but be worried by safety issues on the processes of production, storage, and delivery. Explosive limits and minimum ignition energy are two essential but crucial aspects for the initiation of explosion, and thus a well understanding on those issues should be a prerequisite for massive utilizations. This paper has presented a comprehensive review on the recent progress in the experimental studies on the explosive limits and minimum ignition energy for syngas. Some essential conclusions and some interesting observations have been remarked, and the potential of further studies have been prospected. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.