A widely applicable kinetic scheme for pyrolysis is still missing. In this work an adaptation of the mechanistic scheme developed by Ranzi et al. (2008) for pyrolysis of small ash free biomass particles is proposed. The scheme is modified to include secondary char formation reactions, which are relevant for particles of a certain thickness, and sugar formation is avoided due to the catalytic effect of alkali metals in biomass. The predictions of the adapted scheme are compared to experimental data from the literature of pyrolysis in fixed beds of particles with a size of around 1 cm. It is shown that the adaptation improves the prediction of the final char yield and its CHO composition and also the yields of the main groups of volatiles, as carbonyls + alcohols, sugars and water vapor. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.