The chemical looping gasification of rice straw using Fe2O3/Al2O3 as oxygen carrier was studied at reaction time of 5-25 min, steam-to-biomass (S/B) ratio of 2.0-4.8, reaction temperature of 750-950 degrees C, and oxygen carrier-to-biomass of 1.0. The gasification can be regarded completed in 20-min reaction. There exist an optimal S/B ratio of 2.8 and reaction temperature of 900 degrees C leading to maximum performances yielded are 1.22 Nm(3)/kg gas yield at 54.6% H-2+24.2% CO. The studied Fe2O3 oxygen carrier/rice straw is a feasible platform for syngas production from an agricultural waste. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.