Abstract
The main objective of this article is to demonstrate by experimental measurements the capability of the quartz crystal resonator (QCR) to characterize samples of liquor at different concentrations of adulteration with methanol, classify them according to their viscosity, and identify how to use this capability as a potential detection of fake liquor. According to the literature, the fake liquor is a common problem detected in several countries across the globe. The current strategy to detect the fake liquor is based on a piezoelectric biosensor that permits the classification of the samples according to its viscosity. The viscosity is a useful variable to determinate the degree of adulteration in the liquor samples because the viscosity value between ethanol (straight liquor) and methanol (most common fake liquor) is very different.
Highlights
The adulterated alcohol or “fake alcohol” is a common problem detected in some countries
The effectiveness of a low-cost piezoelectric sensor to detect fake liquor has been demonstrated through simple experiments
Fungilab 60 RPM of its admittance response allows us to carry out the present study to detect in a clear way the changes in concentration of methanol in a common alcoholic drink like Ron
Summary
The adulterated alcohol or “fake alcohol” is a common problem detected in some countries. In the UK, the illegal alcohol is distilled and sent without a license, and its sale costs the UK around £1.2 billion per year [1]. In Greece, the improvised production of beverages named “meth” exists, done in illegal laboratories in an empirical way. The production commonly includes illegal alcohol with high concentration of methyl alcohol [2]. In India, there is a similar situation related to the illicit liquor. In these cases, one dangerous adulterant is industrial methylated spirit, which causes mass poisoning of consumers [3]. The product was unlabeled and supplied “in bulk” in plastic barrels [4]
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