In the present study, an attempt has been made to develop a kinetic model for the hydrolysis of microcrystalline cellulose to glucose. Microcrystalline cellulose has been hydrolysed using different concentrations ofH 2SO4, HCl and H3PO4 acid (1 % to 5% w/v) in a temperature range of 383 K to 408 K. The findings indicate that the heterogeneous reaction is in first order and the rate constants are strongly dependent on pH of the reaction medium as well as temperature. A maximum conversion of 20% is achieved at 408 K at pH 0.29. Salt effect on hydrolysis is studied using dilute solutions of Al2(SO4)3, FeCl3 and K2SO4. The activation energy is independent ofpH of the reaction medium and basicity of the acid catalyst. It is almost constant at 93 × 106 J/kmol. Based on the experimental data, a kinetic model is developed, which predicted the rate-constants for subsequent experiments wit in 5% relative error.