The experiment of catalytic hydrogenation of cardanol was performed on a Raney nickel catalyst for the purpose of eliminating the effects of internal and external diffusion. The kinetics data have been collected experimentally over ranges of 2.5-4 MPa and 373.15-393.15 K, respectively. Then, the intrinsic kinetics of the catalytic hydrogenation reaction of cardanol was studied. It was proven that the catalytic hydrogenation of cardanol is a second-order irreversible series-parallel reaction under the experimental conditions. The kinetic parameters (E-a, K-o) and kinetic equation were obtained through fitting, and the kinetic model was proven through testing to be reliable.