The invention discloses a brown coal pre-drying-air preheating-waste heat utilization composite coal-fired power generation system, and belongs to the power station energy-saving field. The system is mainly characterized in that a brown coal drying system is connected with a steam turbine regenerative system and an air preheating system, a smoke heat-setting water system is connected with the steam turbine regenerative system and the air preheating system, the steam turbine regenerative system is connected with a steam turbine generating device, the air preheating system is connected between the brown coal drying system and a boiler rear smoke channel, then whole-course heating of air is finished, and brown coal can be directly burned for power generation after being dried. Energy density of the brown coal is increased, boiler efficiency is improved, heat and moisture in dried tail gas are recycled, temperature of air in an inlet of an air pre-heater is increased, meanwhile, a smoke-water heat exchanger arranged in a hearth division smoke channel recycles smoke heat, coal consumption of a unit is expected to be greatly reduced, and therefore the efficient, energy-saving, water-saving and emission-reducing effects are achieved.