This study characterizes combustion of blends of DFO (domestic fuel-oil) and refined cottonseed oil produced in Burkina Faso at different percentages in a non-modified DFO burner by determining its overall performance (consumption and thermal capacity) and gas emissions (CO, CO(2), O(2), NO, NO(x), SO(2)). The physical and chemical characteristics of the different blends confer on each blend the status of a special fuel requiring specific adjustment of the burner. The influence of combustion parameters such as equivalence ratio and fuel pressure is studied. Results show that emissions of CO, NO(x) and CO(2) are similar for all fuel blends at the operating point corresponding to 0.86 equivalence ratio and 20 bars fuel pressure. Whatever the fuel pressure is, SO(2) emission is increasing with DFO percentage in blends. Experimental emission results obtained with suitable adjustments for a blend containing 30% cottonseed oil and 70% DFO are compared to the calculated results obtained using a combustion equation based on a global chemical mechanism. The results show that there is a satisfactory snatch between the calculation and experimental results. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.