Coproduction of H₂ and volatile fatty acids from sweet sorghum stalks was successfully developed via two-step fermentation process involving alkaline and enzymatic treatment of the residual slurry obtained from the first step fermentation of the raw material. The optimum treatment conditions to obtain the highest yield of the end products included 2% (w/v) alkali at 120 °C for the residual slurry and 32 FPU cellulase per gram of the alkali-treated materials. The two-step fermentation using Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum increased the end product yields of H₂ (6.37 mmol/g-substrate) by 95%, acetic acid (2.33 g/L) by 97% and butyric acid (2.36 g/L) by 143% compared with those obtained in the single step fermentation without any treatment. As a result, the H₂ energy recovery efficiency of the two-step fermentation process with commercially attractive butyric acid as a coproduct reached 10.54%. These results provide a promising approach for sweet sorghum biorefining.

通过两步发酵工艺成功开发了甜高粱茎中H ₂和挥发性脂肪酸的联产工艺，该工艺包括对原料第一步发酵获得的残留浆料进行碱和酶处理。要获得最高最终产品收率的最佳处理条件包括：在120°C下残留浆液含2％（w / v）的碱，每克碱处理的物料含32 FPU纤维素酶。使用解热梭菌的两步发酵可将H ₂（6.37 mmol / g底物）的终产物产率提高95％，将乙酸（2.33 g / L）的产率提高97％，将丁酸（2.36 g / L）的产率提高143 ％与未经任何处理的单步发酵获得的相比。结果，H₂具有商业吸引力的丁酸作为副产物的两步发酵过程的能量回收效率达到10.54％。这些结果为甜高粱生物精制提供了一种有前途的方法。