The present paper presents a three-dimensional numerical investigation of a pulverized-fuel, tangentially-fired utility boiler located at Florina/Greece under air, partial and full oxy-fuel conditions. Heat and mass transfer and major species concentration, such as CO(2), CO and O(2) are calculated; whilst the results for the reference air case scenario studied are in good agreement with the corresponding operational data measured in the plant, both for combustion calculations and NO(x) emissions. Results for the partial and full oxy-fuel operation scenarios are in line with similar experimental and numerical investigations found in the recent literature. This numerical investigation of oxy-fuel conditions scenarios prior to their implementation under real scale conditions demonstrates the utmost of its importance, since significant results regarding the operation of a boiler in terms of lignite particle trajectories and burning rates are attained. Furthermore, NO(x) calculations have been performed for all the examined case studies. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.