Patent ID: 7238242

Claim:
A biomass pre-hydrolysis process comprising the following steps: a) discharging of the biomass into a helical feeder; b) transferring the biomass from the helical feeder to a pre-hydrolysis device; c) starting, in the biomass pre-hydrolysis device, the operation of pressurization, which comprises the following steps: c.1) flooding the biomass pre-hydrolysis device with a pre-heated acidic solution; c.2) heating to create a pre-hydrolysate; and c.3) pressurizing; d) said process wherein the pre-hydrolysis is carried out simultaneously with the rotary oscillation of the biomass pre-hydrolysis device, purging of steam and controlling of temperature, pressure, acid content, time of pre-hydrolysis, and liquid/solid ratio; and e) monitoring a sugar content of the pre-hydrolysate to a value close to 10 Brix by means of a sugar meter.