The aim of limiting the amount of CO(2) that is released together with other exhaust gases from power plants can be reached by technologies allowing for a systematic separation of this greenhouse gas. One such technology is the integrated gasification combined cycle power plant which makes use of a coal gasification step. For the gasification involving temperatures far higher than in typical pulverised combustion chambers, ash contained in the fuel is liquefied (slag) and must be removed from the cycle to guarantee safe operation of downstream equipment. To keep the efficiency of the power plant as high as possible, hot gas cleaning facilities are most desirable for this purpose. The design of these installations necessitates knowledge about thermophysical properties of coal ash slags, especially in reducing, pressurised atmospheres. In this work, the surface tension of 15 coal ash slags was measured in argon hydrogen gas of up to 10 bar absolute pressure according to the sessile drop method. Compared to experiments at 1 bar, surface tension values up to 42% lower were found on applying pressure. Additionally, shifts in the melting temperature interval of the ashes due to increased pressure were observed. The surface tension values obtained in pressurised atmospheres ranged from 270 to 490 mN/m with respect to temperature intervals where almost no data scattering occured. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.