As the basic raw material for the production of various petrochemical products, ethylene plays an important role in the petrochemical field. With the global energy structure adjustment brought about by the shale gas revolution, ethane has gradually become the preferred raw material for ethylene production. Ethane pyrolysis technology has the advantages of high yield, low cost and low energy consumption. As the core content of cracking furnace mathematical model, the establishment of reaction kinetics model is the basis of simulation, control and optimization of cracking process. Therefore, under the current energy environment, it is of great significance for the development of domestic ethylene industry to study and summarize the kinetic model of ethane pyrolysis. In this work, the research status of ethane cracking process, pyrolysis reaction kinetic model and coking reaction kinetic model are summarized. The kinetic models of pyrolysis reaction are divided into empirical model, mechanism model and molecular reaction dynamics model. The kinetic models of coking reaction are divided into catalytic coking and free radical coking. This work not only introduces the basic models, but also compares and summarizes the process of gradual optimization of the models. In addition, this work puts forward new prospects for the future research direction. In the future, the combinations of the empirical model with the automatic control technology of cracking furnace and the reaction kinetics model with CFD technology are of great necessity. The co-cracking process of ethane and propane and optimization the product distribution needs to be further researched. The establishment of reaction kinetics model which can accurately predict the coking process need to be explored. In conclusion, ethane pyrolysis not only brings opportunities for industrial production, but also provides a new direction for researchers.