An Alberta sub-bituminous coal was tested for the level of mercury removal obtained by a low-temperature thermal upgrading. The mercury removal characteristics, relative to increasing temperature and upgrading time, were determined. Rapid thermal upgrading at 400 degreesC released similar to72% of the mercury in the original coal, with a negligible total thermal energy loss. A corresponding increase in the calorific value of the upgraded coal was observed, from similar to20 900 kJ/kg to 25 900 kJ/kg. A further increase in the upgrading temperature, from 400 degreesC to 600 'C, produced only a minimal further increase in mercury removal. Rapid thermal upgrading at 400 degreesC resulted in a higher mercury removal efficiency than the temperature-programmable thermal upgrading. Thermal upgrading of sub-bituminous coal could be considered to be a viable option for mercury emission control. A volume reaction model of a first-order process was applied to simulate mercury removal from coal during the thermal upgrading. A comprehensive time constant was introduced in this model to describe the mercury release kinetics. Both the activation energy (22.6 kJ/mol) and the pre-exponential factor (8.65/min) for mercury release were determined by fitting the experimental isothermal data into this model. The determined parameters were used to predict the nonisothermic release of mercury during thermal upgrading experiments.