A computer controlled wire mesh apparatus has been developed that uses radiant heating elements at 900 degrees C to combust individual biomass particles. Optical access allows particle combustion characterisation by video image analysis. Combustion test results are presented for roughly cubic particles of European ash at a range of sizes with different moisture contents. As the moisture content of the particles increased the overall times required for drying, devolatilisation and burnout increased. The effect of moisture content, however, had a lesser effect upon total burning time than the effect of particle mass, which was shown to dominate the total combustion time for this single biomass type. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.