Anti-wear beams installed on water walls of circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers are one method to protect against water wall wear. Beam effects from superficial gas velocity, solid suspension density, bed material size and beam size were investigated on water wall wear in a CFB test rig experimentally using a measurement system consisting of thin-film resistor sensors and high-precision resistance probers. Multiple sensors were set up around an anti-wear beam vertically to obtain the axial profile of the wear rate of water wall. Results show that installed anti-wear beams may reduce the wear rate of water wall. Along the water wall around the beam vertically, the maximum wear rate occurs at the upper surface of the beam while the minimum rate occurs at the bottom surface. In general, the wear rate of the water wall around an anti-wear beam increased with the superficial gas velocity, initial bed material (static bed height) and particle size, while the wear rate just below the beam was not notably influenced by those parameters. An optimum anti-beam width in the range of 6-9 mm is recommended under the test condition. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.