Low temperature conversion of sludge and shavings from leather industry

Abstract Brazil has one of the largest herds of cattle in the world, with more than 170 million heads. Over 400 farms have exported more than 2,875 ton (in 1997) of leather to Europe. The wet blue tanning process uses chemicals such as chromium compounds and produces liquid wastes that must be treat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water science and technology 2002-01, Vol.46 (10), p.277-283
Main Authors: Silveira, I C T, Rosa, D, Monteggia, L O, Romeiro, G A, Bayer, E, Kutubuddin, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activated carbon
Animals
Batch reactors
Bovidae
Brazil
Cattle
Cattle production
Chromium
Chromium compounds
Chromium Compounds - analysis
Contamination
Conversion
Dewatering
Diesel fuels
Dry matter
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollution - prevention & control
Farms
Hazardous Waste
Hazardous wastes
Heavy metals
Hydrocarbons
Industrial Waste
Laboratories
Landfill
Landfills
Leachates
Leather
Liquid wastes
Low temperature
Metals
Organic Chemicals
Raw materials
Schools
Sewage - chemistry
Shavings
Skin
Sludge
Solid wastes
Sulfur
Sulphides
Tanneries
Tanning
Tanning industry
Technical education
Temperature
Waste disposal
Waste disposal sites
Waste management
Wastes
Wet blue leather
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Brazil has one of the largest herds of cattle in the world, with more than 170 million heads. Over 400 farms have exported more than 2,875 ton (in 1997) of leather to Europe. The wet blue tanning process uses chemicals such as chromium compounds and produces liquid wastes that must be treated by physicochemical and biological systems. About 15,000 ton per month of dewatering sludge with 24% solids content is disposed of into landfills. During the process, pre-tanned skins (wet blue leather) are shaved to the desired thickness and the shavings, like sludge, are among the wastes that must have special attention. The organic content and chromium concentration are high. About 12% of the leather production from cattle hides are shavings, and its chromium concentration ranges from 3.5 to 5.5% of dry matter. The Environmentally friendly leather project, a co-operation between Brazilian and German tanneries, universities and technical schools, is looking for process optimisation, waste minimisation and adequate treatment for solid and liquid wastes from the leather industry. This work presents results of Low Temperature Conversion of chrome-containing sludge and shavings in a laboratory batch reactor, offering a solution for these hazardous wastes, recovering the energy content and transforming metals in insoluble sulphides.
ISSN:0273-1223
1996-9732
DOI:10.2166/wst.2002.0353