The ignition and burnout of the volatiles in fluidized bed combustor are essential for its performance and emissions. NOx are known to sensitize the oxidation of hydrocarbons. CO, and H-2. This effect is relevant especially for fluidized bed combustors, which are operated at relatively low temperatures (i.e. about 850 degreesC). Different reaction mechanisms and modifications to existing mechanisms have been proposed in the literature to account for these low temperature interactions of NOx and hydrocarbons. In this work, an existing widely used reaction mechanism is adapted and tested for its capability to describe the NO sensitized oxidation of CH4 under conditions relevant to fluidized bed combustion. NO lowers the ignition temperature to about 300 degreesC under the conditions investigated. Three different oxidation paths for the oxidation of CH4 have been identified and discussed. Their relative importance strongly depends on combustion temperature, indicating that the presence of NOx significantly affects the oxidation of the volatiles in fluidized bed combustion. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.