A multi-scale approach was used in a numerical investigation of lignite particle drying in a fixed bed. The multi-scale model simultaneously analyzed a macroscopic thin bed layer and a microscopic thin particle layer. The macroscopic heat and mass transfer between the drying gas and the lignite particle surfaces was calculated in conjunction with the microscopic intraparticle heat and mass transfer using transient boundary conditions. The microscopic intraparticle heat transfer was described assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium in the porous lignite particle with the mass transfer including convection of the free water, diffusion of the bound water, and convection and diffusion of the gas mixture in the lignite particle. The multi-scale model was verified by a series of experiments with varying gas velocities and temperatures at atmospheric pressure using two kinds of lignite particles. The simulations agree well with the experimental data for the average weight loss rate and the gas temperatures. The results show that the effects of the drying conditions, such as the lignite particle stack height and the temperature and velocity of the drying gas, on the fixed-bed drying process can be evaluated using this multi-scale drying model and that the intraparticle drying behavior at different bed heights in the fixed bed can also be described.