Cellulose and hemicellulose hydrolysis models for application to current and novel pretreatment processes

Acids catalyze the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose to produce sug ars that:organisms can ferment to ethanol and other products. However, adva nced low- and no-acid technologies are critical if we are to reduce bioetha nol costs to be competitive as a pure fuel. We believe carbohydrate oligome rs play a key role in explaining the performance of such hydrolysis process es and that kinetic models would help us understand their role. Various inv estigations have developed reaction rate expressions based on an Arrhenius temperature dependence that is first order in substrate concentration and c lose to first order in acid concentration. In this article, we evaluate the se existing hydrolysis models with the goal of providing a foundation for a unified model that can predict performance of both current and novel pretr eatment process configurations.