The purpose of this study is to determine how different design parameters in an idealised small-scale combustor affect the emission of particulates in the flue gas and to provide insight that can be used for design optimisation. The design parameters are the primary air factor, the total air factor and the magnitude of swirling flow in the combustion chamber. Particles from the reactor were collected from two different sampling lines, one located in the combustion zone, just above the fuel bed, and the other in the flue stack after the reactor. The measurements show that this burner gives very low emissions of particulates and CO in the flue gas. Furthermore, the concentration of particles in the flue gas is uncoupled to the concentration of particles immediately above the fuel bed, probably as a result of a well-designed secondary air supply. The variable that had the strongest effect on the total particulate emission from the combustor was the total air factor. In order to understand the qualitative differences in the flow nature between different operating conditions, CFD simulations of the flow field were also performed. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.