Abstract: The rotary drying process for Fujian anthracite and alkali-salt by-product from chemical plants was studied. The factors such as coal particle size, drying temperature, drying time, gas velocity, rotary rate, catalyst component and drying capacity were discussed. At the drying temperature 80 ℃～160 ℃, drying capacity 214 kg/m3·h～1834 kg/m3·h, gas velocity 0.12 m/s～0.30 m/s and within 20 min，the moisture content of the mixture can be reduced to <5%.It shows that the rotary drying technique is very suitable for this process. The catalyst immerses into coal well and the admixture, produced from the rotary drying process, can be in good fluidization state during the gasification. The heat transfer coefficient equation for MA catalyst and Fujian anthracite is given by the regression of experimental data. Based on the mass and energy balances, the variations of drying characteristics along the rotary dryer are simulated, which is beneficial to the industrial design and analysis.