This work evaluated ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse at high solids loadings in the pretreatment
(20–40% w/v) and hydrolysis (10–20% w/v) stages. The best conditions for diluted sulfuric acid, AHP
and Ox-B pretreatments were determined and mass balances including pretreatment, hydrolysis and fermentation
were calculated. From a technical point of view, the best pretreatment was AHP, which
enabled the production of glucose concentrations near 8% with high productivity (3.27 g/L h), as well
as ethanol production from 100.9 to 135.4 kg ethanol/ton raw bagasse. However, reagent consumption
for acid pretreatment was much lower. Furthermore, for processes that use pentoses and hexoses separately,
this pretreatment produces the most desirable pentoses liquor, with higher xylose concentration
in the monomeric form.