Previous kinetic modelling for dilute H2SO4-acid hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse operated using batch reactor led to conclude that hemicellulose conversion, about 75 % of theoretical, was possible to be reached using 1.0 % w v-1 H2SO4 solution, solid load equal to 20 % and 80 min of operation. The present study aims to expand the fundamental understanding of the kinetic involved in this process. A continuous process isothermally performed in a plug flow reactor at dynamic was proposed and studied. H2SO4-acid hydrolysis of 200 kg h-1 of sugarcane bagasse using 1.0 % w v-1 H2SO4 solution, solid load equal to 20 %, 60 min and a reactor length of 1.30 m (with a cross-sectional area equal to 1 m2) at 121 °C resulted in yields of 59.70 % for xylose, 2.00 % for arabinose, 8.46 % for glucose, 8.42 % for acetic acid, 0.73 % for furfural, 0.12 % for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 0.00 % for levulinic acid which means more than 72 % of the hemicellulose (related to 30.99 % in the raw material) was easily hydrolyzed with similar inhibitors yields values when compared to process in batch configuration reported as: 8.43 % acetic acid, 0.96 % furfural, 0.16 % 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 0.29 % levulinic acid. Hence, both reactors are equivalent in terms of the influence of the acid solution concentration and solids loading. However, plug flow reactor configuration reduces the time required to proceed with the H2SO4-acid hydrolysis. Copyright © 2014,AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.37 325330Chang, C., Ma, X., Cen, P., Kinetics of levulinic acid formation from glucose decomposition at high temperature (2006) Chinese J. Chem. Eng., 14, pp. 708-712Converse, A.O., Kwarteng, I.K., Grethlein, H.E., Ooshima, H., Kinetics of thermochemical pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials (1989) Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol., 20-21, pp. 63-78Girisuta, B., Janssen, L.P.B.M., Heeres, H.J., Kinetic study on the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose to levulinic acid (2007) Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 46, pp. 1696-1708Herrera, A., Téllez-Luis, S.J., González-Cabriles, J.J., Ramírez, J.A., Vázquez, M., Effect of the hydrochloric acid concentration on the hydrolysis of sorghum straw at atmospheric pressure (2004) J. Food Eng., 63, pp. 103-109Islam, S.M.R., Sakinah, A.M.M., Kinetic modeling of the acid hydrolysis of wood sawdust (2011) Int. J. Chem. Environ. Eng., 2, pp. 333-337Jaramillo, O.J., Gómez-García, M.A., Fontalvo, J., Prediction of acid hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials in batch and plug flow reactors (2013) Bioresour. Technol., 142, pp. 570-578Kim, Y., Kreke, T., Ladisch, M.R., Reaction mechanisms and kinetics of xylo-oligosaccharide hydrolysis by dicarboxylic acids (2013) AIChE J., 59, pp. 188-199Kim, S.B., Lee, Y.Y., Diffusion of sulfuric acid within lignocellulosic biomass particles and its impact on dilute-acid pretreatment (2002) Bioresour. Technol., 83, pp. 165-171Krishnan, C., Da Costa Sousa, L., Jin, M., Chang, L., Dale, B.E., Balan, V., Alkali-based afex pretreatment for the conversion of sugarcane bagasse and cane leaf residues to ethanol (2010) Biotechnol. Bioeng., 107, pp. 441-450Lavarack, B.P., Griffin, G.J., Rodman, D., The acid hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse hemicellulose to produce xylose, arabinose, glucose and other products (2002) Biomass Bioenergy, 23, pp. 367-380López-Arenas, T., Sales-Cruz, M., Steady state analysis and optimization of a continuous reactor for acid pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass (2012) Chemical Engineering Transactions, 29, pp. 1567-1572. , DOI: 10.3303/CET1229262www.nrel.gov/biomass/analytical-procedures.html, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 2013. In Chemical Analysis and Testing Laboratory Analytical Procedures. 2013. Accessed 11.01.2013Saeman, J.F., Kinetics of wood saccharification hydrolysis of cellulose and decomposition of sugars in dilute acid at high temperature (1945) Ind. Eng. Chem., 37, pp. 43-52Tavares, J., Sthel, M., Campos, L., Rocha, M., Lima, G., Da Silva, M., Vargas, H., Evaluation of pollutant gases emitted by ethanol and gasoline powered vehicles (2011) Procedia Environ. Sci., 4, pp. 51-60Tovar, L.P., Dos Santos, R.A., Wolf-Maciel, M.R., Maciel-Filho, R., Experimental evaluation and kinetic modeling studies on the hydrothermal and h2so4-catalyzed hydrothermal pretreatments of sugarcane bagasse: Focusing on pretreatment at low temperature and batch process for high-solids loading (2013) Poster 10-31, 35th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemical, 2, p. 2013. , April 29-May, Portland, OR