Tar formation is the main technical barrier in the development of biomass gasification at industrial scale because it can lead to serious operational problems in downstream equipment. This paper aims to investigate the effect of the operating conditions on gas composition, product distribution and tar composition in the air-gasification of rice husk in the presence of dolomite (untreated and calcined). Results show that an increase in the temperature leads to a lower tar formation and higher gas production. Light PAHs were found as the main tar compounds (1084-5661 mg/Nm(3)), whereas among other compounds, the most significant were the heterocyclic aromatics (phenol and pyridine) and heavier PAHs (pyrene and fluoranthene). In the case of light aromatics, the most abundant compound at 850 degrees C was toluene whereas at 950 degrees C, the most representative compound of the tar was ethylbenzene. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.