The gasification technology has been object of study of many researchers, especially those involved in promoting large-scale electricity generation in sugarcane mills. This paper presents a simplified model for the gasification process based on chemical equilibrium considerations. The model consists in the minimization of the Gibbs free energy of the produced gas, constrained by mass and energy balances for the system. Despite the simplicity of the model, its results are reliable in identifying the tendencies of the working parameters of the system. A parametric study has been carried aiming the verification of the influence of many variables inherent to the model, such as: gasification temperature, moisture content, and air temperature, among others. The results were compared with those found in literature and real systems. Following this parametric study, an exergy analysis has been performed in order to evaluate irreversibilities associated to the process, and the influence of temperature, moisture, charcoal production, and thermal losses on them. Finally, a first attempt to integrate a gasifier into a sugarcane mill was performed, which showed the potential benefits regarding the use of such technology. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.