The Coal Gasification Research Studies program consists of three tasks: (1) coal ash behavior studies; (2) high-pressure fluidization studies; and (3) high-temperature fluidization studies. During this quarter, four gasification runs were made in the 2-inch fluidized-bed gasifier at 1800/sup 0/F and 2000/sup 0/F using gas mixtures of both high (5%) and low (0.2%) oxygen content. The carbon conversion of these runs ranged from 25 to 70%. Rounded ash particles typical of ash agglomerates were observed in the reactor residue of the high-oxygen (5%) run at 1800/sup 0/F and the low-oxygen (0.32%) run at 2000/sup 0/F. The low-oxygen runs at 1800/sup 0/F did not produce these rounded agglomerates. In the high-pressure fluidization studies, a series of tests was conducted this quarter to determine the best gas distributor configuration (number of orifices and orifice diameter) to use for the bubble characteristics study. In view of the signal quality and bubble frequency results, the best gas distributor configuration was determined to be a 10-orifice distributor with 3/16-inch-diameter orifices distributed in three concentric rings. In the high-temperature fluidization studies, two heat-up tests at 900/sup 0/ and 1500/sup 0/F were conducted this quarter in the 6-inch-diameter, Schedule 10, Type 316 stainless steel high-temperature reactor. 2 references, 17 figures, 4 tables.