Abstract: The effect of coal rank on coal catalytic hydrogasification was studied in a pressured fixed-bed reactor. The catalyst loading, methane release rate and gas composition were compared for coal samples with different ranks. The coal samples and residues were characterized by FT-IR and SEM. The results show that the reactivity of coal decreases with increasing rank of coal without catalyst loading, and the methane release rate from low rank coal is divided into two stages obviously. After adding catalyst, it is suggested that the reactivity of Shenfu bituminous coal performs the best, while that of Zunyi anthracite and Yunnan brown coal is poor. The results of SEM and FT-IR analysis show that the particle surface of high rank coal is smoother and the structure is more compact, and the strength of vibration intensity of aliphatic and aromatic structure increases with decreasing coal rank. All of the differences lead to the different reactivity of catalytic hydrogasification among the coal samples.