The partial oxidation (PDX) characteristics of municipal sludge in supercritical water (SCW) were investigated by using batch reactor. Effects of reaction parameters such as oxidant equivalent ratio (OER), reaction time and temperature were investigated. Activated carbon (AC) could effectively improve the mole fraction of H-2 in gas product at low OER. However, high OER (greater than 0.3) not only led to the combustion reaction of CO and H-2, but also caused corrosion of reactor inner wall. Hydrogenation and polymerization of the intermediate products are possible reasons for the relative low COD removal rate in our tests. Metal oxide leached from the reactor inner wall and the main components of the granular sludge were deposited in the AC catalyst. Reaction time had more significant effect on BET surface area of AC than OER had. Long reaction time led to the methanation reaction following hydrolysis and oxidation reaction of AC in SCW in the presence of oxygen. Correspondingly, the possible reaction mechanisms were proposed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.