Increased mixing intensity is not necessary for more efficient cellulose hydrolysis at high solid loading.

To enhance the cellulose hydrolysis at high solid loadings, an increased mixing intensity is generally required for the high solid loading hydrolysis, while it leads to higher energy consumption. In this study, the impact of mixing intensity on cellulose conversion during hydrolysis at different solid loadings were systematically studied. It was found that the increased mixing intensity is not necessary for more efficient cellulose hydrolysis. For cellulose hydrolysis at higher solid loadings, a lower mixing intensity is needed for a higher cellulose conversion. Although the increased mixing intensity promoted enzyme adsorption, it strengthened product inhibition and caused severer enzyme deactivation. Besides, mixing at the initial stage of cellulose hydrolysis was more crucial, while continuous mixing throughout the hydrolysis was not required for more efficient cellulose hydrolysis. Based on the mechanism study, a combined mixing strategy was developed to achieve efficient cellulose hydrolysis with about two-third reduction in energy consumption.