Using corn alcohol for auto fuel in hand sanitizer

[BrightKnight]

There are enormous plants making fuel grade ethanol. Nobody is driving and the 10% added to gasoline could be easily replaced with more gasoline. Why can’t we produce enough hand sanitizer to supply domestic and foreign demand?

[rzemanfl]

1. I read plastic bottles and caps are problems. Not enough of them. n/t

[DeminPennswoods]

2. There's plenty of them going into landfills

It's a good opportunity to collect, sanitize and reuse them.

[rzemanfl]

3. That won't work for mass production. n/t

[DeminPennswoods]

4. You wouldn't need mass production

nt

[rzemanfl]

5. Here's what I read.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=hand+sanitzer+in+short+supply+for+months&form=EDGHPT&qs=PF&cvid=a0fe4676feea491da848122df11b639c&refig=9a7fdd9041034ac1adb09ac5a3c0a314&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0

I'm glad you have this all figured out.

[DeminPennswoods]

6. The point is we don't need to produce more

disposable plastic when we can collect and reuse empty sanitizer bottles or a bigger PET bottle to make refill bottles. All the manufacturers have to do is ask for Americans to return their empty hand sanitizer bottles and I'm pretty sure they'd have an avalanche of them.

[rzemanfl]

7. There is no system in place to clean and sanitize empty hand sanitizer bottles.

Where would the bottles be dropped off? Who would pick up the bottles and haul them to be cleaned and sanitized? How would they then get to the plant that makes the hand sanitizer? It might be a lot easier to refill people's existing bottles like they do with filtered water.

[Codeine]

19. We would need to build a sanitizing infrastructure

in factories that produce the stuff. And you’d have to sort all these containers into batches based on size and shape and then ship those to the facilities that can use those on their individual bottling lines.

It’s a patently ridiculous idea. Just wash your hands.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. It can be sold in bulk for people to use at home as refills

It can go into former hand sanitizer bottles, shampoo bottles, ketchup squeeze bottles, for gosh sakes.

[rzemanfl]

10. I don't know enough about the manufacturing process to know if that is an option.

I suspect it is made and bottled in the same plant.

When we run out I plan to carry soap and water in the car on my rare trips to stores. I wear a mask and gloves.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Thepoint is the manufacturer puts into whatever's bottles they can source.

Consumers put it into their own containers which, honestly, can be most anything handy.

[rzemanfl]

13. The article I posted the link to says one company is using automotive bottles,

because that is what they have. We started this with a rather large bottle on hand and have been refilling pocket sized bottles. My wife also received two gag bottles, "You Might Have Touched Your Genitals" and "Thank You for Holding My Hair" from the business she worked at before it shut down. The contents of the bottles is legitimate hand sanitizer. We seldom go anywhere except for walks but always carry sanitizer when we do.

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. Soap and warm water still does a better job n/t

[BrightKnight]

12. Make it available in bulk bags and people will sort out the container

People are making now. I’m just reusing an empty sanitizer bottle.

Any government would buy ship loads of 55 gallons drums of it.

[rzemanfl]

14. Not the U.S. government. Jared or Ivanka would buy it first, then the government would buy

it from them.

[SeattleVet]

15. Corn Squeezin's?

[BrightKnight]

16. With 17 billion gallons of 200 proof corn ethanol produced

in the US, there is no reason why hand sanitizer has to be scarce. There is no reason why small scale brewers have to make it. Something does not add up.

[BrightKnight]

18. Don't let Kushner find out. He will send Party officials out

to commandeer it.

[GulfCoast66]

17. I got 1.75 liters of 151 everclear a couple of weeks ago.

Cut half and half with 100 proof vodka for 3.5 liters of 63% alcohol. Carry a saturated paper towel in a baggie everywhere I go. Even added a little peppermint extract for a pleasant smell.

Corn liquor would be just as good.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Ethanol Supply Is Not The Big Problem

I've been, several times each, to the 3 manufacturing sites that produce the 2 best selling brands.
The access to denatured ethanol (SDA40B & SDA3A) isn't a problem.
The issue is threefold.
1. Nearly the entire supply chain of this product line has fiscal year ending Dec 31. It's common practice to shed inventory to nearly critical low to remove inventory from one side of the balance sheet & unsold liability from the other. The delta then becomes cash. So cash positions look better at close of books.
Normally, this isn't an issue because they have all at Q1 to rebuild the inventory, allowing to meet swings in weekly demand.
With the CV19 outbreak, demand exploded while inventories were low in all phases of the chain, including packaging. So inventory ran dry.
2. These plants, while multi product and reasonably large have dedicated cGMP vessels for making the product. These are NOT high volume kettles. Typically only a couple thousand gallons. And they operate 24/7. In one site, there are 2 kettles, & 4 people doing the work. Measurements are all automated, so adding staff wouldn't make it go faster, and volume is fixed. They simply don't have the infrastructure to suddenly increase production by three or four hundred percent.
3. The packaging piece was affected by #1. But, there are FDA claims & EPA registrations in place. The reuse of packaging is not only inconsistent with cGMP, but violates the associated regulations. So, it's taking time just
In fact, your OP suggests otherwise. If there's 10% EtOH in gas, and demand is down 30%, there's already all that available alcohol without reformulating gas. There is PLENTY of it out there.
The per gallon price is already down 40¢ per gallon due to reduced demand!
So, ethanol supply is most assuredly NOT the bottleneck.