BUTUAN City – As the supply of alcohol dwindled in the market in Caraga, the Father Saturnino Urios University (FSUU) took steps by contributing to the fight in keeping Covid-19 at bay through the production of ethanol alcohol.
Since mid-March academic institutions across Mindanao such as Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan in Cagayan de Oro City, FSUU, Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City and recently, Central Mindanao University (CMU) donated alcohol for use as antiseptic and disinfectants to hospitals and front-line personnel in their respective areas.
The schools used their existing concentrated alcohol supplies, which were diluted after mixing with glycerol, distilled water, and hydrogen peroxide.
On March 26, FSUU’s chemistry team diluted donated to two hospitals in Butuan about 30 liters of 80 percent ethanol.
“We’ve seen the need for more alcohol as the supply has considerably diminished and so, last week we produced our own through fermentation,” said The Rev. Father John Young, president of FSUU.
Young said they decided to produce not just through dilution but to ferment their own ethanol.
“We are out now out of stock, we cannot anymore produce through dilution. So, last week, we started fermenting from sugar. This will hopefully help as supplies continue to deteriorate,” he said.
FSUU aims to produce around 75-percent to 80-percent ethanol, higher than what’s in the market, said Young.
On Black Saturday, the team made an initial test on the week-long fermented sugar to check and assess the needed distilling process to convert the 200 liters of fermented solution into useable antiseptic alcohol.
Lloyd Malaloan, a chemistry instructor at FSUU, said they are hoping to make more than 100 liters in the next batch.
“We are doing direct fermentation with sugar mixed with yeast and water. Usually, it will take about one to two weeks before this can be converted to ethanol. Right now, we are testing what we have and checking the solution,” said Malaloan.
The team is now looking into using distilling equipment used in making traditional wine, also known as laksoy, to hasten the fermentation process and produce more antiseptic solutions.
“We have already talked to the laksoy maker that we will rent their distillery equipment. We are calculating the costs,” he said. (Erwin M. Mascariñas)
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