The development of a silicon carbide heat exchanger is a critical step in the development of the Externally-Fired Combined Cycle (EFCC) power system. SiC is the only material that provides the necessary combination of resistance to creep, thermal shock, and oxidation. While the SiC structural materials provide the thermomechanical and thermophysical properties needed for an efficient system, the mechanical properties of the SiC tubes are severely degraded through corrosion by the coal combustion products. To obtain the necessary service life of thousands of hours at temperature, a protective coating is needed that is stable with both the SiC tube and the coal combustion products, resists erosion from the particle laden gas stream, is thermal-shock resistant, adheres to SiC during repeated thermal shocks (start-up, process upsets, shut-down), and allows the EFCC system to be cost competitive. The candidate protective materials identified in a previous effort were screened for their stability to the EFCC combustion environment. Bulk samples of each of the eleven candidate materials were prepared, and exposed to coal slag for 100 hours at 1,370 C under flowing air. After exposure the samples were mounted, polished, and examined via x-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. In general, the alumina-based materials behaved well, with comparable corrosion depths in all five samples. Magnesium chromite formed a series of reaction products with the slag, which included an alumina-rich region. These reaction products may act as a diffusion barrier to slow further reaction between the magnesium chromite and the slag and prove to be a protective coating. As for the other materials; calcium titanate failed catastrophically, the CS-50 exhibited extension microstructural and compositional changes, and zirconium titanate, barium zironate, and yttrium chromite all showed evidence of dissolution with the slag.