Water vapor accelerates the thermal decomposition of CaCO 3 , thus reducing the energy consumption for producing CaO. In this study, the effects of water vapor on the thermal decomposition of CaCO 3 reagents with different particle sizes were comparatively investigated to reveal the physicogeometric causes of the acceleration effect. The effect of water vapor was parametrized in individual samples using a universal kinetic description over different water vapor pressures, and a larger relative acceleration effect of water vapor was observed for the larger-particle-size sample. Additionally, the enhanced sintering of CaO particles in the particle assemblage and the growth of CaO grains in the surface product layer were observed in the smallerand larger-particle-size samples, respectively. Based on these findings, the overall reaction was described using a physicogeometrical consecutive process comprising the surface reaction (SR) followed by a phase boundary-controlled reaction (PBR). A significant acceleration effect of water vapor on SR of the larger-particlesize sample was observed through the universal kinetic descriptions of the individual reaction steps of SR and PBR, which explained the physicogeometrical causes of the acceleration effect as well as its changes with the sample particle size.