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Calliandra calothyrsus and Gliricidia sepium are developed as wood energy forest plantations in degraded land. They have good survivability, are fast to be harvested, and have good calorific value to be utilized as biomass fuel. This study aims to investigate their combustion characteristics by thermogravimetric analysis and their ash-related issues by combustion experiments in drop tube furnace and ash observation. The results show that G. sepium has a better combustion performance with higher values of ignition index, comprehensive combustion index, and flammability index, while C. calothyrsus shows better ash-related issues with less risk in theoretical slagging prediction, clearer metal surface in the fouling area, and less ash deposit formation. The domination of K, Ca, and S elements in the ash deposits of both biomasses results in several sticky aggregate particles and low-melting minerals. This study provides an in-depth understanding of C. calothyrsus and G. sepium combustion for broader utilization., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)