This study demonstrated the use of a pressurized mechanical refining system for the continuous steam explosion pretreatment of wheat straw. Wheat straw was first impregnated with either dilute acid (0.5% sulfuric acid) or water and then steam exploded in an Andritz pressurized refiner. The effect of a range of pretreatment conditions, including refining retention time and steam pressure/tempera...

BACKGROUND Two-step dilute acid hydrolysis of softwood, either as a stand-alone process or as pretreatment before enzymatic hydrolysis, is considered to result in higher sugar yields than one-step acid hydrolysis. However, this requires removal of the liquid between the two steps. In an industrial process, filtration and washing of the material between the two steps is difficult, as it should b...