Abstract: Ash content of coal is an important index of coal quality in current coal process and utilization enterprises.The methods of burning and weighing as well as rapid determination of ash and float-and-sink is not only time-consuming and laborious but also always give rise to information feedback lagging and ash content exceed standard,these methods is low efficiency and not make real-time detection of coal quality,so it is not meet the requirement of current coal industry.The paper detailed introduced some methods used at present which can quick detection coal ash content including radiation method,natural radioactive method,weighting method,photoelectric method and image processing method and the relevant equipment for each method,and then analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of each method,provides the beneficial reference for coal processing and utilization enterprises.