Investigations on the pyrolysis and kinetic behaviors during pyrolysis of fossil fuel samples, such as coal, are fundamental for developing the related technology and practical application. In this work, pyrolysis behavior and kinetics in the pyrolysis process of a coal sample were investigated by the thermogravimetric analyzer at a heating rate of 10, 40, 70, 100, 200, and 500 ℃/min, respectively. The pyrolysis process could be divided into four stages according to the TG/DTG curves. The first stage was mainly attributed to the removal of volatiles, and the second peak was the polycondensation reaction between the volatile components. It was found that more volatiles could be released from coal during pyrolysis at higher heating rate and the higher pyrolysis temperature was necessary for a rapid pyrolysis process. Kinetic analysis revealed that both the model-free (KAS and FWO) and the Coats-Redf methods were suitable to describing the pyrolysis process, and the variation of activation energy (E) with the two types of kinetic models was consistent during the whole pyrolysis process. Furthermore, the heating rate did not alter the reaction sequence of the whole pyrolysis process, but higher heating rate could make the E value of the initial pyrolysis stage smaller.