In this work, an experimental study of biomass gasification in different operation conditions has been carried out in an updraft gasifier combined with a porous ceramic reformer The effects of gasifier temperature, steam to biomass ratio (S/B), and reforming temperature on the gas characteristic parameters were investigated with and without porous ceramic filled in reformer. The results indicated that considerable synergistics effects were observed as the porous ceramic was filled in reformer leading to an increase in the hydrogen production. With the increasing gasifier temperature varying from 800 to 950 degrees C, hydrogen yield increased from 49.97 to 79.91 g H(2)/kg biomass. Steam/biomass ratio of 2.05 seemed to be optimal in all steam-gasification runs. The effect of reforming temperature for water-soluble tar produced in porous ceramic reforming was also investigated, and it was found that the conversion ratio of total organic carbon (TOC) contents is between 71.08% and 75.74%. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved