**3.3. Advantages and disadvantages of LHW and steam pretreatments**

LHW and steam pretreatments are attractive from a cost-savings perspective, as they do not require the addition of chemicals such as sulfuric acid, lime, ammonia, or other catalysts. Moreover, the reactors do not require high cost materials and maintenance due to their lowcorrosion potential. Additionally, these treatments do not alter the biomass glucan content, as a glucose recovery rate of 97% was observed for sugarcane bagasse that was pretreated by both methods [36]. The main differences between the features of the two treatments re‐ lates to hemicellulose extraction, which is higher for the LHW, and the biomass load, which is higher for the steam pretreatment, with the obvious corresponding advantages and disad‐ vantages. In contrast to steam pretreatment, LHW allows for a higher xylan recovery associ‐ ated with the lower formation rate of inhibitors.
