The gasification of beech wood char and oil palm shell char with carbon dioxide and steam was studied. To avoid heat and mass transport limitations during gasification, the amount of char, particle size and flow rate were varied in isothermal experiments. A rate expression of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood-type was applied to match the experimental data at different partial pressures and reaction temperatures in the intrinsic regime. Furthermore, the reactive surface area (RSA) of the biomass chars was determined as a function of the degree of conversion by the temperature-programmed desorption technique (TPD). The results show that the reaction rate is in general proportional to the RSA. The surface related reaction rates for the studied biomass chars are comparable to surface related reaction rates for coal chars at similar reaction temperatures. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.