High-performance hydrolysis of wheat straw using cellulase and thermomechanical pretreatment

► The DIC (Détente Instantanée Contrôlée) process was used to pretreat a lignocellulosic biomass through a flash expansion. ► Wheat straw was exposed to a mixture of cellulases (Celluclast) to produce glucose. ► The hydrolysis process resulted in a glucose yield close to 90% of the theoretical cellulose value, i.e. 31 g/100 g of pretreated straw. ► A fermentation procedure was performed using the microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce bioethanol, i.e. 11.5 g/100 g of pretreated straw. ► The pretreatment enhances the adsorption and the accessibility of cellulases in the substrate due to the flash expansion.