摘要：A new biomass-gasification power plant, of medium-size downdraft type, is presented and discussed in its design features and performance characteristics. Its configuration and overall dimensions, initially conceived for 800 kW, were recently re-tuned, from a functional point of view and on the base of a parallel theoretical analysis, by decreasing to about 400 kW the former nominal power level. This provision, jointly with the basic design choice of adopting a long and amply dimensioned inlet-biomass thermal pretreatment section, turned out quite effective in achieving high gasification temperatures and a low-tar content in the produced gas at fuel-to-air ratios well below the usually imposed ones, to the advantage of the heat value of the product-gas. The paper discusses the numerical analysis results which helped to properly re-adjust the operational parameters of the gasifier and then presents the experimental performance data of the overall power plant including biomass consumption, gasification temperatures, gas production, composition and pollutants content, cold-gas conversion efficiency and global electric efficiency. Special care is devoted to investigating the issue of a significant production of carbon-containing particulate matter in the product gas, which turns out made up of char and fixed carbon much more than of tar species.