Abstract: In order to prevent coal spontaneous combustion effectively, the gel foam with high foam ratio, strong stability and good wettability were developed on the basis of five different types of surfactants and two kinds of polymers as modifier additives, and the foam performance and high temperature flame retardant properties were tested. The results show that in terms of foam performance when the mass ratio of surfactants A and B is 1∶2, the total mass concentration is 6 g/L, and the mass concentration of polymer X is 3 g/L, the performance of gel foam is the best; in terms of high temperature flame retardancy, compared with the original coal, the ignition time of coal samples mixed with gel foam is extended from 27 s to 334 s, and the peak heat release rate decreases from 68.08 kW/m² to 38.46 kW/m², the total heat release at 1 200 s is reduced from 41.98 MJ/m² to 37.12 MJ/m², and the flame retardant effect is remarkable.