Abstract: In order to study the distribution of dry distillation products from germanium-rich lignite retorting and germanium partition in each product under different conditions, the occurrence form of germanium in lignite was firstly determined by sequential chemical extraction and SEM-EDX. Then, lignite retorting experiments were carried out at different pyrolysis temperatures (450~850℃) and holding time (30 min and 300 min) in steel retort reactor. The results showed that germanium in lignite mainly existed in the form of humus-bound state (accounting for 93.64%). The main factor affecting the volatilization of germanium was the pyrolysis temperature, and the holding time had little effect on the volatilization of germanium at high temperature (> 650℃). Most of the germanium(95%) migrated to coal gas, and germanium could be further separated from the gas, while the recovery rate of germanium in coal tar and pyrolysis water was extremely low. Considering the maximum volatilization rate of germanium and tar yield, the best retorting condition was the final temperature of 650℃ for 30 min, when the volatilization rate of germanium was 98.29% and the tar yield was 5.13%. In addition, TG-MS was used to study the release behavior of the main components of retorting gas, and the relationship between the reducing components of gas and the volatilization of germanium was discussed. The results showed that the concentration of reducing components (CO, H₂ and H₂S) of dry distillation gas was positively correlated with the volatilization of germanium. The stronger the reducing nature of gas, the higher the volatilization of germanium. However, over-reduction reaction may occur at high temperature (850℃), resulting in the decrease of the volatilization of germanium.