autohydrolysis were taken into account to design and optimize the conversion processes from hemicelluloses to xylose.
Kinetic models have been applied to describe autohydrolysis
process for different treatment conditions.
The kinetics of the hydrolysis reaction for extraction of
hemicelluloses from sugarcane bagasse using diluted acid has
been widely studied because of its high reaction rates and
high extraction yields (Rodríguez-Chong et al., 2004; Aguilar
et al., 2002; Gámez et al., 2006). The model proposed in this
study is an adaptation of the irreversible first-order model
developed by Saeman (1945), designed for the acid hydrolysis
of cellulose from douglas fir wood, which predict the formation of glucose from cellulose and its degradation. The general
model of Saeman can be applied to other homopolymers
where the monomer is sequentially released and degraded
(Rodríguez-Chong et al., 2004). This kinetic model was used
to predict the autohydrolysis of xylans to xylose (oligomer of
xylans + monomer) which is degraded to furfural and other
degradation products (Eq. (1)).