Study of influence of yeast cells treatment on sugarcane ethanol fermentation: Operating conditions and kinetics

•A two-stage yeast treatment is critical to maintain VHG fermentation with cell recycling.•The optimal conditions of acid treatment stage were 30 °C, 2.65 pH and 30 min.•The highest cell viability was found at relatively low temperature and negative ORP.•Reaction rates were calculated for the yeast reactivation stage using a mechanistic model.•Real-time measurements yielded valuable information to modeling and optimization.