Vale Supports Production and Donation of Approximately 150,000 Liters of Alcohol-Based Sanitizer per Month

One of the solutions selected for the COVID-19 Challenge was developed by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and consists of a system for purifying ethyl alcohol (ethanol) to generate 70% alcohol. Vale’s financial investment in the project will enable replication and donation to partner institutions that will produce and distribute this alcohol-based solution to hospitals and communities. Once all systems are up and running, the production capacity can reach up to 150,000 liters of alcohol per month.

The system was developed at UFRJ, which had already produced more than 40,000 liters of a 70% alcohol solution that were distributed to the nine hospitals within the University complex.

“What we did was develop an ethyl alcohol purification system that removes the compounds forbidden by pharmaceutical standards, then we adjusted it to produce the 70% alcohol-based sanitizer – liquid or gel – used in hospitals. Vale’s support will enable replicating this system and distributing it to other institutions that are also producing and donating alcohol solutions,” explained Fabiana Fonseca, deputy director of School of Chemistry of UFRJ.

Check out the institutions who will receive the purification system kits.

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)

State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro)

Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio de Janeiro (IFRJ, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio de Janeiro)

Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Curitiba Campus – UTFPR

Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro – UFRRJ

Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA, Universidade Federal do Maranhão)

Learn more about the COVID-19 Challenge

The COVID-19 Challenge is an initiative launched by Vale, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, and Rede Mater Dei de Saúde with the aim of supporting open innovation solutions that mitigate the impacts of coronavirus in society. The initiative received 1,858 solutions and approximately US$ 1 million will be allocated to nine Brazilian and two Canadian solutions. Visit the website here to learn more.