Abstract. In this paper the flow structure in a four-vortex furnace of a pulverized coal boiler has been studied. The results of an experimental study of inner aerodynamics carried out on a laboratory isothermal model of a combustion device are presented. Using the particle image velocimetry method, flow velocity distributions have been obtained in a number of sections. A spatial flow structure consisting of four stable conjugate vortices with vertical flow rotation axes has been visualized.The perspectives of coal energy development necessitate the creation of new ways of efficient and environmentally safe use of solid fuels. The limited reserves of high-quality solid fuels lead to the need to involve low-grade ("non-project") coals in the fuel and energy balance. The solution of this problem requires a significant increase in the characteristics of steam boilers of TPPs and the development of new types of combustion devices that satisfy modern standards of energy efficiency and environmental safety. One of the promising technologies in this field is fuel combustion in the vortex flow. The flow swirling provides for a more complete fuel burnup due to better mixing and longer residence time of fuel particles in the combustion chamber.In this paper, the flow structure in a perspective combustion device [1] with a fourvortex solid fuel combustion scheme is experimentally studied. Four vortical structures with vertical axes and opposite directions of rotation are formed there. The furnace is designed for the use at thermal power plants for burning brown slagging coal. The furnace is equipped with a shielded rectangular combustion chamber. Two diagonally directed blocks of multilevel burners are mounted on the sidewalls; they are close to the axis of symmetry of the sidewalls so that the ratio of distance between the burners to the burner height is 0.8-1.2. In the center of the front and rear walls, there are nozzles of secondary and tertiary inflow, made in the form of vertical near-wall slots, whose height is equal to the height of the burner unit and oriented relative to each other in opposite directions along the walls, where they are located. Primary fuel combustion occurs in the direct-flow part of the side burner flame. Due to optimal positioning of the side burners, efficient interaction of burner jets mixing and ignition is achieved via intensive flue gas suction in the inter-burner space. The colliding straight-flow parts of the flame, directed from the sidewalls towards each other, turbulize the flow, and due to the nozzles of secondary and tertiary inflow, form four vortex flows with vertical rotation axes ( Fig. 1-a).