Acid mine drainage (AMD) was used for the pre-treatment of indigenous South African grass (Eragrostis curvula),
and compared to H2SO4 (1 wt%) pre-treatment. The optimal pre-treatment duration were investigated and found
to be 1 day for H2SO4 and 3 days for AMD pre-treatment. The optimal biomass solid loadings were found to be
20 wt% for both pre-treatment methods. Additionally, enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation to produce
ethanol were investigated for both separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). In both SHF and SSF, the H2SO4 pre-treatment obtained higher concentrations of
glucose/ethanol compared to AMD pre-treatment. The concentration of glucose/ethanol obtained using AMD
pre-treatment was 70–80% of that achieved using H2SO4 pre-treatment. Empirical equations modeling the
glucose/ethanol concentration in all processes were determined using a least squares method. Concentrations
predicted by the models were found to have a high correlation (r2 = 0.87–0.99) to concentrations determined
experimentally