Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Research Center of Iran, affiliated to the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, has launched an ethanol production line to help the fight against the coronavirus.
“Due to the current critical situation in the country and the need for disinfectants, CCERCI has manufactured ethyl alcohol or ethanol, which is the basic raw material for producing alcohol-based disinfectants,” Mohamadreza Omidkhah, head of the center, was quoted as saying by the Energy Today website.
There are essentially three methods used to produce ethanol: from ethane using steam (the ‘synthetic’ route), production from sugar and starch by fermentation, using yeast, and from biomass waste, using bacteria.
Much of the ethanol produced in Iran and the world, is a petroleum product, made by petrochemical companies. However, CCERCI researchers have manufactured ethanol via fermentation process.
Also called alcoholic fermentation, it is a biological process which converts sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products.
“Normally, the fermentation process takes about 8 to 14 days to produce ethanol. However, for the first time in Iran CCERCI has reduced this duration to less than 24 hours,” Omidkhah said, adding that with new technology the center can now produce 1,000 liters of methanol per day. The capacity can rise to 3,000 liters a day.
After the outbreak of the infectious disease (Covid-19) in late February and following severe shortage of disinfectants, production of disinfectants and antiseptic solutions in large quantities started in many companies to help curb the spread of the virus.
Disinfectant Properties
Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) has disinfectant properties. It is active against vegetative bacteria, fungi, and lipid-containing viruses. Ethanol works by denaturing proteins and dissolving lipids, effectively destroying many types of bacterial and viral cells.
Ethanol has been shown to kill coronaviruses in as little as 30 seconds. Like bleach, the alcohol destroys the protein and RNA that the virus is made up of.
Safety measures against the deadly virus include cleaning hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds each time.
Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers with greater than 60% ethanol as the preferred form of hand hygiene is also recommended.
The contagious virus, which was first reported in China in December, has caused an outbreak of respiratory illness in Iran and 210 countries.
The total number of people worldwide who tested positive for the virus by Monday noon reached 3 million with over 207,000 deaths. Iran confirmed over 90,000 cases with more than 5,700 deaths.
Founded in 1989 in Tehran, CCERCI is the only active research center of chemistry and chemical engineering in Iran.
CCERCI and industrial researchers have joined forces to help tackle some of the nation’s toughest challenges, including designing for the oil industry, developing drugs and medical procedures, improving the synthetic process of medicine already available, advancing nano-materials and purifying water affected by runoff.
