Abstract: In a tube boiler, fuel is burned in a fluidized bed which has a shallower part and a deeper part. The tubes extend only through the shallower part which can be fluidized independently of the deeper part so that the rate of heat transfer from the bed to the tubes can be varied according to demand. Water flows through specially configurated, upwardly oriented tubes by natural convection. There is also a general circulation of particles within the bed.