Lignite of low rank coal and petroleum coke of high sulfur content can be high potential energy sources for coal gasification process because of their plentiful supply. The kinetic study of steam gasification has been performed in an atmospheric thermobalance with wood chip, lignite, bituminous, anthracite, pet-coke. The effects of gasification temperature(600~850 ℃) and partial pressure of steam(30~90 kPa) on the gasification rate have been investigated. The modified volumetric reaction model was applied to the experimental data to describe the behavior of carbon conversion and to evaluate the needed kinetic parameters. Lignite and wood chip with high volatile content showed high average gasification rates comparing to other fuel and thus they might be proper fuel for gasification processes. The activation energies for wood chip, lignite, bituminous, anthracite, and pet-coke through Arrhenius plot were found to be 260.3, 167.9, 134.6, 82.2, 168.9 kJ/mol, respectively. The expression of apparent reaction rates for steam gasification of various chars have been proposed as basic information for the design of coal gasification processes.