The combustion of agricultural wastematerials is getting more cost-effective, because of the increasing energy prices. Thats why straw pellets should get accessable to small scale combustors. The aim of the thesis was to improve the combustion behaviour of the furnace and to operate it without any manual intervention while it is in actual operation. Further measurements have been made to get an overview of the pollutant emissions and the degree of efficiency. The difficulties during the combustion were mainly: the condensation of creosote at the fuel insertion jamming of the fuel coat at the top of the bed and the incrustation of the moving and non-moving grates Many combustion tests were necessary to prevent these problems and the insertion of primary air was reconstructed many times. By inserting the primary air solely from above the fuel bed the problems mentioned above could be solved. Further the emissions have been measured. The results showed, that the carbon monoxide and the nitric oxide emissions were below the legal limits. Especially the carbon monoxide emissions were far below the threshold. The TSP emissions showed a higher value than the legal limit would allow. Furthermore the degree of efficiency was too low to meet the legal prescription which was caused by the amount of unburnt fuel which has been discharged with the ash. That is why further resarch is required.