H2S and HCl released during biomass gasification can decrease the perfomance of high-temperature, fuel cells in an Integrated Biomass Gasification Fuel Cell power-generating, system. In this study, the behaviors of such poisonous gases during the gasification of different biomass fuels at various temperatures ranging from 673 to 1473 K were predicted using an equilibrium calculation approach. The predictions showed not only a difference in emission behaviors of HCl and H2S among the biomass fuels. but also a low HCl emission (below 10 ppmv) for a few of the fuels at any temperature. In addition, the influence of biomass metal composition and gasification temperature on emission behavior was investigated by analyzing the distribution of chlorine and sulfur compounds and the phase diagram of selected elements such as silicon and aluminum. Finally, we suggest that the addition of a potassium-rich biomass to a potassium-poor biomass has the potential to reduce the HCl emission during gasification and then to maintain the HCl concentration in gas phase below the tolerance concentration of the fuel cells. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.