Abstract: In the operation of the sodium-cooled fast reactor, the accident caused by the leakage and combustion of liquid sodium is common and frequent. In this paper, the oxidation and combustion characteristics of sodium droplets were studied by carrying out the experiments of the oxidation and combustion under different conditions of initial temperatures (140-370℃) of the sodium droplets and oxygen concentrations (4%-21%). The oxidation and combustion behaviors were visualized by a set of combustion apparatus of sodium droplet and a high speed camera. The experiment results show that the columnar oxides grow longer as the initial temperature of sodium droplet and oxygen concentration become lower. Under the same oxygen concentration condition, the sodium droplet with the higher initial temperature is easier to ignite and burn. When the initial temperature of sodium droplet is below 200 ℃, it is very difficult to ignite. If there is a turbulence damaging the oxide layer on the surface, the sodium droplet will also burn gradually. When the initial temperature ranges from 140℃ to 370℃ and the oxygen fraction is equal to or higher than 12%, the sodium droplet could burn completely and the maximum combustion temperature could roughly reach 600-800℃. When the oxygen concentration is below 12%, the sodium droplet could not burn completely and the highest combustion temperature is below 600℃. The results are helpful to the research on the columnar flow and spray sodium fire.