Ethyl alcohol from agricultural wastes such as rice and corn are being produced by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU) – Main Campus in a new ethanol production facility set up to address the current demand for alcohol-based hand sanitizers amid the COVID-19 public health crisis.
The DOST said it partnered with the state university for the establishment of the processing facility in Cagayan Valley which can convert agricultural products into locally-produced ethyl alcohol
In a Facebook post, the DOST announced that the actual demonstration of the ethyl alcohol production took place at the NVSU Analytical Facility on May 31, 2021.
The activity was led by Project Leader Lori Shayne Busa with NVSU Vice President for Research, Extension & Training Dr. Wilfredo Dumale Jr., and DOST-Provincial Science and Technology Center (PSTC) Nueva Vizcaya staff Mr. Rommel Simbol and Ms. Rowena Daang.
Busa introduced the stages of alcohol production including its preparation, two pre-treatment processes, sterilization, fermentation, distillation, and packaging.
DOST provincial director Jonathan Nuestro said that the demonstration has shown that the production of bioethanol alcohol has 70% efficacy. He also added that the project will also use other agricultural wastes and by-products aside from rice and corn to produce ethyl alcohol.
The new facility is part of NVSU’s project entitled “Development of a novel processing facility for the conversion of agricultural products to ethyl alcohol” which was funded by the DOST R02- Grants-In-Aid program in 2020 and is expected to be fully completed this year.
Universities that have taken the lead in ethanol production for the benefit of hospitals and Filipino frontliners include the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) which successfully developed ethyl alcohol with Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO), the University of the Philippines Visayas School of Technology (UPV-SoTech) which developed a sugar byproduct into alcohol for donation to frontliners, and the Marinduque State College (MSC) which is producing 95% alcohol from coconut and mangrove sap.
SEND CHEERS in the comments below to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU) – Main Campus for putting up a new ethanol production facility in Cagayan Valley to produce ethyl alcohol from agricultural wastes such as rice and corn.
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