A 1 kg/h auger reactor utilizing mechanical mixing of steel shot heat carrier was used to pyrolyze red oak wood biomass. Response surface methodology was employed using a circumscribed central composite design of experiments to optimize the system. Factors investigated were: heat carrier inlet temperature and mass flow rate, rotational speed of screws in the reactor, and volumetric flow rate of sweep gas. Conditions for maximum bio-oil and minimum char yields were high flow rate of sweep gas (3.5 standard L/min), high heat carrier temperature (similar to 600 degrees C), high auger speeds (63 RPM) and high heat carrier mass flow rates (18 kg/h). Regression models for bio-oil and char yields are described including identification of a novel interaction effect between heat carrier mass flow rate and auger speed. Results suggest that auger reactors, which are rarely described in literature, are well suited for bio-oil production. The reactor achieved liquid yields greater than 73 wt.%. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.