Abstract: In order to prevent spontaneous coal fire, the effect of copper compounds on coal oxidation and heating process was studied. Six compounds containing copper were selected and mixed with Xinjiang lignite for synchronous thermal analysis. Based on TG and DSC data, the variation of characteristic temperature points of coal before and after the addition of copper compounds was analyzed, and the variation of ignition activation energy and heat release characteristics of coal before and after the addition of copper compounds was clarified. The results show that the characteristic temperature points of coal with copper compound are lower than that of raw coal. The weight loss before ignition point increased compared with raw coal. The ignition activation energy decreases to 0.66-0.85 times of raw coal. Compared with raw coal, the oxidative heat release peak and combustion heat release peak moved forward, and the oxidative heat release increased to 1.14-2.48 times of raw coal. These results indicate that these copper compounds have catalytic effect on spontaneous combustion of coal.