The effect of methane on Xilinguole lignite (XL) pyrolysis with or without Ni/Al2O3 as catalyst was investigated with thermogravimetry coupled with mass spectrometer and in a fixed-bed reactor. The results show that methane activated by catalyst can promote XL pyrolysis, increasing tar yield and gas releasing. Methane without catalyst can also enhance gas evolution of XL pyrolysis, but has little effect on tar yield. The increase of char yield in XL pyrolysis under methane is attributed to carbon deposited from methane decomposition. There exists induce effect between coal radicals and methane which facilitates methane activation at low temperature and increases gas evolution during XL pyrolysis even without catalyst. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.