The coal ash obtained at 815 degrees C under oxidizing atmosphere was further treated at 1300 degrees C and 1400 degrees C under reducing atmosphere. The resultant ashes were examined by XRD, SEM/EDX and FTIR. The results show that the residence time of coal ash at high temperatures has considerable influences on the compositions of coal ash and little effect on the amounts of unburned carbon. The amorphous phase of mineral matters increases with the increasing temperature. The FTIR peaks due to presence of different functional groups of minerals support the findings of XRD, and supply additional information of amorphous phase which cannot be detected in XRD. The ash samples generated from a fixed bed reactor during char gasification were also studied with FTIR. The temperatures of char preparation are responsible for the different transformation of minerals during high temperature gasification. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.