An Euler-Lagrangian simulation applied to wood gasification in a fluidized bed is used to investigate individual particle histories and to provide a statistical analysis for temperature, apparent density as well as radial and axial positions of charcoal and dry wood particles. The model and several parameter variations have been discussed in detail in previous articles [1-3]. Based on simulation results we find much higher particle heating rates than typically used to measure kinetic data for, e.g., pyrolysis models. Although we presented a rather complex interplay of particle heating rate, biomass decomposition, particle shrinkage and particle fluidization the simulation results emphasize the importance of the usage of realistic particle size distributions for the initial bed as well as the fuel inlet. Furthermore, particle shrinkage data in combination with mass decomposition data appear to be crucial for realistic simulations. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.