Syngas production by bio-oil steam gasification in a fountain confined conical spouted bed reactor

•A feeding device was developed for crude bio-oil gasification.•Gas yield and H2 production are higher than in biomass gasification.•Tar concentration decreases from 40.7 to 12.5 g Nm−3 with increasing temperature.•Tar composition evolves to more stable PAHs as gasification temperature is increased.