Circulating fluidized beds often apply secondary gas injections and diffusers in the riser. These strongly affect the fluid dynamics of the gas-solid flow in the system. This work is performed to study these effects in a cold flow model of an 8 MWth biomass gasifier. It is shown that in the diffuser there is a bulb of the suspension flow, which enhances the internal solids recirculation by a factor of 3.5. Thus, the solids hold-up and the pressure drop in the diffuser are significantly increased. The study on the effect of gas injection confirms that the solids circulation rate is more enhanced by gas injections in the lower part of the riser than in the upper part. From the investigated operating parameters, the gas flow rates and the particle diameter have the strongest effects on solids circulation and mass distribution in the riser. The effect of riser geometry properties, besides the cross-section areas and the total height, was found to be small. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.