Two-stage acid hydrolysis

A two-stage acid hydrolysis process is employed in over 40 Soviet wood hydrolysis plants (15). These plants have an average annual output per plant of 10,000 t of wood sugar. Most of the output is converted to industrial alcohol and fodder yeast. 

Most analysis methods for the determination of carbohydrates in biomass incorporate a two-stage acid hydrolysis to separate individual polymers and hydrolyze them to simple compounds that can be readily analyzed by chromatographic or spectroscopic techniques. The first stage subjects the biomass sample to a concentrated acid that disrupts the noncova-lent interactions between biomass polymers. A second, more dilute stage follows, which is optimized for complete polymer hydrolysis and minimized degradation of monomeric sugars. Failure to remove nonstructural materials may result in incomplete hydrolysis of... 

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