SaarEnergie (SE) GmbH, Forschungszentrum Julich, and Institut fur ZukunftsEnergie-Systeme are partners in a project titled 'Pilot operation of a high-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) using mine gas,' which was launched in November 2003. As a first step in this project, the quality of the mine gas was analysed at the intended installation site. These first analyses were performed to obtain information on the fluctuations in the methane concentration in the mine gas as a function of time. The composition of the gas was determined by means of micro gas chromatography. The results were used to design the test stand suitable for operating an SOFC rated at 1-2 kW in combination with a pre-reformer. The system layout finally selected from a number of possible options was a partly integrated design with pre-reformer and fuel cell with combined heat system. The pre-reformer was optimized on the basis of laboratory tests using synthetic mine gas. Additional preliminary tests using synthetic mine gas were also performed on single cells and laboratory scale short-stacks. The paper presents the results of the mine gas analyses and their effect on the pre-reformer and the fuel cell. It goes on to discuss the results obtained from the preliminary tests using synthetic mine gas on the pre-reformer and on the fuel cell. Finally, an outlook is given, taking a closer look at the results expected for the second project year. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.