Planta piloto para fabricação de produtos saneantes domissanitários: estudos de formulações e aceitação dos produtos fabricados

Abstract

This paper presents a report about the experience during a university extension project, started in April 2020, which allowed the pilot plant’s implementation due to the manufacture of household cleaning products. The development of the project, as well as the implementation of the pilot plant, was motivated by the pandemic context and social vulnerability experienced in some of the municipalities influenced by UTFPR - Campo Mourão campus. The extension project was carried out in partnership with the municipalities Campo Mourão, Roncador, Quarto Centenário and Rancho Alegre d’Oeste, which have many families in a situation of social vulnerability and a large number of families with an income of less than ½ minimum wage. During thepilot plant’s implementation, several activities were developed, from selection of personal protective equipment, labels’s elaboration, acquisition of quality and affordable supplies, campaign to collect residual vegetable oil, implementation of several manufacturing units (one for each one of the household cleaning products manufactured: liquid soap, bar soap, liquid soap, bleach, general purpose disinfectant and 80% glycerin alcohol) and processing (such as filtration of residual vegetable oil and production of caustic soda 50%), among others. Due to time constraints, in the present work we focus our attention on liquid soap, bar soap and liquid soap products, carrying out studies of formulations, evaluating physicochemical and microbiological parameters and acceptance of the products resulting from these processes. These studies were of high value, as they allowed the selection of the most suitable formulations to be used on a large scale in the pilot plant. The estimated production costs, when compared to the prices of commercial products, indicate the feasibility of manufacturing these products in an educational context. When thinking about a university extension context - as reported in this paper -, the manufacture of household cleaning products, in addition to contributing to the teaching and learning of concepts and processes related to the contents studied in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, can contribute to the improvement in the quality of life of people in situations of social vulnerability, since these products are not the priority for purchase by this portion of the population.