The paper reports a preliminary study on the application of sound assisted fluidization for hot gas clean-up, with a focus on the parallel agglomeration/removal of the particulates and afterburning of residual carbon. A 41-min ID sound-assisted fluidized bed filter/afterburner has been developed and tested in experiments carried out at ambient temperature and at 850 degrees C. The application of an acoustic field of 140 dB and 120 Hz is able to increase filtration efficiency in terms of bed saturation time and removal of particulate by factors of 2 and 4, respectively. Experiments have been interpreted based on a simplified model which takes into account the role of sound in promoting the interaction between fine particles and coarse bed material. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.