In this study, an attempt has been made to gasify coconut shell in a fluidized and a spouted bed reactor. The effects of the gasification temperature on individual gas components, their yields and heating values for both types of beds have also been studied. The fluidized bed appears slightly superior to the spouted bed both in respect to heating value and gas yield over the temperature range studied. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.