The controlled air oxidation technology is a promising way of disposing medical waste, which has been a huge challenge in China. It converts waste through partial oxidation into a gaseous mixture, small quantities of char and condensable compounds. But operational performance of the primary chamber of the controlled air incinerator is poorly understood, leading to difficulty in control. In this paper, a packed-bed reactor was established to study the effect of O2 concentration on sawdust oxidation. The feed gas flow rate was kept constant at 0.6 m3/h at room temperature (26 ℃) with O2 concentrations varied from 6% to 12%. Temperature profiles of the beds, product yields and gas compositions in the out-of-bed fuel gas were measured in detail. The results showed that the sawdust beds achieved low temperatures for the given O2 concentrations and leveled off in the oxidation processes. The bed temperatures increased and the solid yields decreased with the increase of O2 concentrations. When the O2 concentration was 10%, the gas yield reached a minimum and the liquid reached a maximum correspondingly. When the O2 concentration increased from 6% to 10%, the peak concentrations of CO and CH4 in the gas yield increased. However, when the O2 concentration exceeded 10%, CO and CH4 concentrations decreased. As O2 concentration varied from 6% to 12%, CO2 concentration increased continuously. This study provides a fundamental insight that the reaction processes could be well regulated by means of adjusting the feed air in practical units.