The decomposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is the rate-determining step for coal gasification in supercritical water (SCW). Anthracene, which is the simplest PAH, was selected as the model compound to investigate the gasification characteristics. The reactive force field method combined with the method of density functional theory was utilised to investigate the SCW gasification process of anthracene, and the process was also compared with steam gasification and pyrolysis. Compared with pyrolysis, SCW effectively weakened the C(ring)-C(ring) bond energy in anthracene and decreased the energy barrier of the ring-opening reaction by 558.22 kJ/mol. The effect of SCW on the anthracene gasification was revealed. This effect proved that supercritical water accelerated the gasification rate and increased the hydrogen yield. The SCW molecule was converted into H radical-rich water clusters, which contributed to the main source of H-2 production. Copyright (C) 2016, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.