Corn stover, distiller grains and cattle manure were characterized to evaluate their acceptability for thermochemical conversion. The energy densities of ground corn stover, distiller grains and cattle manure after totally drying were 3402, 11,813 and 10,374 MJ/m(3), compared to 37,125 MJ/m(3) for coal. The contents of volatiles in corn stover, distiller grains and cattle manure were 77.4, 82.6 and 82.8%, respectively, on a dry and ash-free basis compared to 43.6% for coal. About 90% of the volatiles in corn stover, distiller grains and cattle manure were released at pyrolysis temperatures of 497, 573 and 565 degrees C, respectively. The combustion of corn stover, distiller grains and cattle manure were completed at 620, 840 and 560 degrees C, respectively. The heat values of the biomass and air mixture for stoichiometric combustion were 2.64, 2.75 and 1.77 MJ/kg for dried corn stover, distiller grains and cattle manure, respectively, as compared to 2.69 MJ/kg for coal. Combustion of 1 kg of dry corn stover, distiller grains and cattle manure generated 5.33, 6.20 and 5.66 Nm(3) of flue gas, respectively, compared to 8.34 Nm(3) for coal. Simulation showed that gasification of 1 kg of dried corn stover, distiller grains and cattle manure at 850 degrees C and ER of 0.3 generated 2.02, 2.37 and 1.44 Nm(3) dry syngas at a heating value of about 4.5 MJ/Nm(3), compared to 3.52 Nm(3) at 5.8 MJ/Nm(3) for coal. The molecular ratio of H-2 to CO in the biomass-derived syngas was close to 1.0, compared to about 0.5 for the coal-derived syngas. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.