The current utilization of coal-bed methane is direct combustion, which will generate a large amount of greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions, and will also result in the use of scarce resources with low added value. In order to realize the high value-added utilization of coal-bed methane, it was proposed to prepare a cellulose acetate/coal-based graded porous carbon material by coal in-situ added cellulose acetate and KOH activation, and it was applied to the direct cracking of coal-bed methane to produce hydrogen. It not only can produce high-purity hydrogen, but also a certain amount of nano-carbon materials can be obtained. In view of the influence of temperature, alkali-to-carbon ratio, solvent amount and other carbon source addition on the preparation process and conversion rate in the preparation process of cellulose acetate/coal-based graded porous carbon, it was planned to use the Design-expert software to optimize the design of the experimental program. The relationship between each influencing factor and the conversion rate was analyzed by the response surface method and some experimental data, the corresponding fitting regression equation was established, and the theoretical optimal solution was obtained. Through comparing and analyzing the experimental value, the reliability of Design-expert software under multi-factor and multi-level conditions was verified, and the mechanism of carbon material catalytic cracking coal-bed methane under optimal conditions also was clarified. The results show that temperature and alkali-to-carbon ratio are the most influential factors in the preparation process of cellulose acetate/coal-based hierarchical porous carbon. The fitting regression equation between the relevant factors and the conversion rate is established and the theoretical optimal solution is obtained. The theoretical results are compared with the experimental results, the maximum error between the results is 3.05%, indicating that the Design-expert software is accurate and reliable in the optimization of the preparation process. The cellulose acetate/coal-based hierarchical porous carbon catalytic cracking coal-bed methane has a higher conversion rate and stability than the original coal material. After the reaction, the former produces a large number of carbon balls on the surface, while the latter produces a small amount of carbon fibers and a large number of carbon balls on the surface.