Curie-point pyrolyser is an instrument that can be used to analyze powder or slurry samples at medium heating rates. It can keep a constant heating rate to heat up the samples until the wire temperature reaches Curie-point temperature and remains the same temperature. In this paper, coal-water slurry (CWS) and its parent coal were studied by using a Curie-point pyrolyser. Kinetic parameters of pyrolysis were calculated and apparent activation energy of CWS obtained is 16.362 kJ/mol, which is a little higher than that of its parent coal, 12.691 kJ/mol. The experimental curves show lean S shape and the heating rate are obtained, which are 617 K/s and 834 K/s, respectively. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.