Relation between swelling ratio of lignites and lignite and solvent characteristics was developed using a third level factorial design with three variables; percent carbon content, particle size of the lignite and electron donor number of the solvent. The results indicate that particle size of the lignite does not affect the swelling ratio. While swelling ratio of the lignites decreases slightly with increasing carbon content of the lignites electron donor number of the solvent has a noticeable effect on the swelling ratio.