Thermal behaviors and heavy metal vaporization of phosphatized tannery sludge in incineration process

The high concentration of heavy metal (Cu, Cr, Zn, Pb) in tannery sludge causes severe heavy metal emissions in the process of incineration. In the present investigation, the tannery sludge was treated with 85% phosphoric acid before the incineration process in the tube furnace to control the heavy metal emissions. The thermal behavior and heavy metal vaporization of pre-treated tannery sludge were investigated, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were also implemente...

Treatment of tannery wastewater by electrocoagulation

Treatment of tannery wastewater by electrocoagulation with low cell current （≤ 1A） and soluble electrodes （mild steel electrodes and aluminum electrodes） was studied. Compared with aluminum electrodes, mild steel electrodes were more effective for the removal of sulfide, with a removal efficiency of over 90%. But during the treatment process, black color precipitate typical to iron（Ⅱ） sulfides was produced. While aluminum electrodes were effective to eliminate the colority of the effluent, the removal efficiency of sulfide was lower than 12%. The mechanisms of the removal of chemical oxygen demand, ammonia, total organic carbon, sulfide and colority with the two soluble electrodes （mild steel and aluminum electrodes） were discussed in detail. In order to exert the predominance of diffenent types of electrodes, the tannery wastewater was treated using mild steel electrodes first followed by the filter and finally by the aluminum electrodes, the elimination rates of chemical oxygen demand, ammonia, total organic carbon, sulfide and colority were 68.0%, 43.1%, 55.1%, 96.7% and 84.3%, respectively, with the initial concentrations 2413.1 mg/L, 223.4 mg/L, 1000.4 mg/L, 112.3 mg/L and 256 dilution times, respectively. The absorbance spectra and energy consumption during electrocoagulation process were also discussed.

Removing contaminants from tannery wastewater by chemical precipitation using CaO and Ca(OH)2

The removal of Cr,sulfates and Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD)from industrial tannery wastewater by chemical precipitation was carried out using Calcium oxide(CaO)and Calcium hydroxide(Ca(OH)2).Different doses of alkalis,ranging from deficiency to excess hydroxyl species over the stoichiometric necessary,were used to remove theoretically the 100%of Cr[0.3-3.2 g alkali·(g Cr^3+)^-1].The precipitation was carried out at room temperature,10 min of vigorous stirring,200 r·min^-1 and a settling time of 24 h,followed by separation and characterization of liquid product.As result of addition of alkalis,pH underwent increase as did the alkali concentration.The removal of Cr,and sulfates also increased as alkali concentration did,although for first species the changes at higher alkali contents were less evident.COD removal on the other hand,did not follow a unique trend,instead exhibited a maximum.Based on our results,selection of a specific dose of alkali was carried out taking as reference the efficiency on total chromium removal,keeping the pH in the range 7 to 9 to ensure Cr precipitation as chromium hydroxide.With those conditions,jar test was used to produce enough liquid product in order to determine the removal percent of several other species.The removal percent of the species was as follows:Cr,SO4^2-,ZnSO4,FeSO4,CN^-1,NiSO4,Fe2[Fe(CN)6]at 99.8%,66.9%,99.6%,21.4%,70.9%,52.8%and 76.4%with CaO,and 99.8%,61.6%,99.9%,7.1%,84.0%,54.4%and 90.5%with Ca(OH)2,respectively.

Impacts of Chromium from Tannery Effluent and Evaluation of Alternative Treatment Options

The paper has focused on the challenges/impacts of tannery effluent and evaluates the alternative treatment options used to treat, recover or recycle chromium from the waste water. The paper was done entirely on secondary data by consulting literature sources including scientific journals, chapters of books, conference report papers and websites. The results of this review paper indicated that chromium is highly toxic and carcinogenic to human beings, animals, plants and the general environment (soil and water sediment). It is found out that chrome is the primary threat when ever tanning industry comes in to practice. Though many treatment options were evaluated to prevent its consequence on the environment, neither of them could achieve to treat or recover chrome 100%. Treatment options are either;inef-ficient, complicated, energy demanding, costly or applicable to a certain parts of the world due to technology or skilled man power demand. Therefore, to tackle this serious challenge stringent environmental regulation with law enforce-ment has to be exercised to use better treatment system which is widely applicable. Polluters must also know the envi-ronmental cost of their industry and treated according to polluter pay or precautionary principles. Moreover, the gen-eral public has to be aware of it and all concerned organizations and governments has to work hand in hand to reach zero discharge level or at least to attain the EPA chrome discharge

Removal of Cr from tannery sludge by bioleaching method

Bioleaching of Cr（Ⅲ） from tannery sludge using the mixture of ingenuous iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria was investigated in batch flasks. Experiments involved the adaptation of indigenous iron-and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, the pre-acidification the sludge to pH 6.0 and the addition of energy substrates. Results showed the inoculation of mixture of ingenuous iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria and co-addition of Fe^2 and elemental sulfur accelerated acid production and increase of oxidation-reduction potential originating from the bio-oxidation of Fe2^＋ and elemental sulfur. Dissolved Cr concentration increased concomitant with pH decreased in the sludge and reached its maximum removal of 95.6%. The amelioration of the odor of bioleached sludge could be noted. However, 20.4%o of N, 24.5% of P and 14.3% of organic matter were lost in the bioleaching process. The residual Cr content in the leached tannery sludge was acceptable for use in agriculture. This study had shown the feasibility of applying the bioleaching process, developed for sewage sludge, to tannery sludge with high Cr.

Studies on Feasibility of Reverse Osmosis (Membrane) Technology for Treatment of Tannery Wastewater

Tanneries reusing wastewater by combination of conventional and advanced Reverse Osmosis (RO) treatment technologies were assessed for technical and economic viabilities. Conventional treatment methods such as neutralization, clari-flocculation and biological processes are followed to clean the effluents before feeding to RO membrane modules. The characteristics of untreated composite effluents such as pH, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), and total chromium were in the range of 4.00-4.60, 680-3600 mg/L, 1698-7546 mg/L, 980-1480 mg/L, 4200-14500 mg/L, and 26.4-190 mg/L, respectively. Inorganic ions like Ca2+, Na+, Cl– and SO42– were found more in the wastewaters. Conventional treatments significantly removed the organic pollutants however failed to remove dissolved inorganic salts. Membrane technology removed the salts as well as remaining organic pollutants and the product water is reused in the process. The studied tanneries (5 numbers) have achieved 93-98%, 92-99% and 91-96% removal of TDS, sodium and chloride, respectively. Seventy to eighty five percentage of wastewater was recovered and recycled in the industrial processes. The rejects are subject to either solar evaporation system or Multiple Effect Evaporation (MEE) technology. The resulting salts are collected in polythene bags and disposed into scientifically managed secured land fill (SLF) site. The cost of wastewater treatment for operation and maintenances of RO including the pre-treatments (conventional methods) is INR 100-110 m-3.

Studies on Chromate Removal by Chromium-Resistant Bacillus sp. Isolated from Tannery Effluent

A chromate-removing strain was isolated from spent chrome effluent and identified as Bacillus circulans strain MN1. The isolated strain was studied for resistance to Cr (VI) and its ability to remove Cr (VI). The strain was found to tolerate Cr (VI) concentration as high as 4500 mg/L, but the cells growth was heavily influenced when initial Cr (VI) concentration was increased between 1110 mg/L and 4500 mg/L while Cr(VI) at 500 mg/L to 1110 mg/L did not suppressed the cells growth. The experiments also demonstrated that the cells removed toxic Cr (VI) more efficiently at 30?C compared with that at 25?C and 35?C. The optimum initial pH for Cr (VI) removal was 5.6 and final pH values of 5.1-5.6 were observed for initial pH 5.2-5.7.

Odour Removal in Leather Tannery

Toxic odour causes pollution to environment. Removal of odour from wet processing sections of leather tanneries is important to preserve safety and occupational health. Such odour causing gases are identified in nature and are identified mostly as ammonia, Hydrogen sulfide and Volatile organic compounds. These gases, evolving from tanning drums, were experimentally quantified and analysed. Techniques for the abatement of odorous gases are designed using chemical methods. Scrubbing towers based on absorption of gases by liquid are designed and fabricated to evaluate the performance of the system in laboratory scale. Those gases were reduced in the concentration by absorbing through the packed bed vapour phase absorption using the activated carbon as the adsorbent. Results are helpful to conclude that the absorption technique presented here to reduce these toxic emission loads, seems to be simpler and economically cheaper.

The influence of old leather tannery district on chromium contamination of soils,water and plants

The paper demonstrates the actual level of chromium contamination at the site of the old tannery waste lagoon in Serniki community (SE Poland). Despite the fact that since 1994 this area is not exploited, the chromium presence is still detected in soil, water and plants. The current study is the 4th phase (after 1989, 2001 and 2004) of checking and controlling the chromium concentration in this territory. The chromium content was assessed after soil and plant mineralization using FAAS method. Total chromium concentrations in soil samples reached values of 2.25 - 18.25 mg·kg-1 dry mass. Levels of chromium in water samples ranged between 0.008 and 0.017 mg·dm-3 for Wieprz River and the trough, situated in the tannery centre, respectively. Absorption of chromium by plants depended from the plant species. The highest Cr content in the stalks of Oenothera biennis, whilst the lowest in Phragmites australis were detected. Finally, it was assumed that soil chromium content noted in 2009 was by 42% - 83% lower in relation to the data from 2004. Consequently, nowadays the tannery waste lagoon site is not so threat to the health of local residents and to the surrounding ecosystem.

Chromium adsorption on surface activated biochar made from tannery liming sludge:A waste-to-wealth approach

In a beamhouse,liming plays a key role in the removal of hair/wool and epidermis,but problems are created when waste liming sludge is discharged to the environment.The treatment of tannery wastewater is another major challenge to the industry.In this study,thermally-activated biochars derived from liming sludge were studied for their effective adsorption of chromium(Cr)from the tannery wastewater.The thermally activated biochars(B500,B550,B600,and B650)were prepared at different temperatures from the liming sludge.Their characteristics before and after the treatment were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy,Bru-nauer-Emmett-Teller,and scanning electron microscopy analyses.The related functional groups(C-H,O-H,C-N,and=C-O)and chromium adsorption capacity were determined according to the surface morphology,element contents(C,O,Ca,Na,Al,Mg,and Si),surface area(5.8-9.2 m^(2)/g),pore size(5.22-5.53 nm),and particle size(652-1034 nm)of the experimental biochars.The biochar originated at 600°C from the tannery liming sludge(B600)had a greater surface area with a chromium adsorption capacity of 99.8%in comparison to B500,B550,and B650 biochars.This study developed an innovative way of utilizing liming sludge waste to minimize the pollution load and wastewater treatment cost in the tannery industry.

Studies on solar flat plate collector evaporation systems for tannery effluent(soak liquor)

Heat and mass transfer analysis of an incompressible, laminar boundary layer over solar flat plate collector evapora- tion systems for tannery effluent (soak liquor) is investigated. The governing equations are solved for various liquid to air velocity ratios. Profiles of velocity, temperature and concentration as well as their gradients are presented. The heat transfer and mass transfer coefficients thus obtained are used to evaluate mass of water evaporated for an inclined fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) solar flat plate collector (FPC) with and without cover. Comparison of these results with the experimental performance shows encouraging trend of good agreement between them.

Groundwater Flow Model for a Tannery Belt in Southern India

The objective of this article is to develop a groundwater flow model for a tannery belt using Visual MOD-FLOW Premium 4.4 for analyzing groundwater velocity and its response to various pumping strategies in two stages, viz., steady and transient conditions. The steady state model was calibrated for April 2001, whereas the transient model was employed to forecast groundwater flow under various pumping strategies. The results showed that the total groundwater abstraction was about 80.43% of the groundwater recharge, but 10.25% was used up by evapotranspiration. The groundwater velocity, which is important for contaminant migration, varied from 0.21 to 0.52 m/d in the tannery cluster. The model was more sensitive to recharge from rainfall, hydraulic conductivity and specific yield. Finally, the model showed that the aquifer could sustain a pumping rate of 24892 m3/day without further decline in water level.

Treatment of Tannery Wastewater by the Application of Electrocoagulation Process Using Iron and Aluminum Electrodes

Until relatively recently, little has been done of effective technique “zero effluent” to conserve energy and water. Tannery wastewater is known as complex characteristics. In this study batch electrocoagulation experiments were carried out to assess the removal of color and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from tannery wastewater using two types of electrode materials: aluminum and iron. The effects of current density, electrolysis time and initial pH were investigated for tannery wastewater. Therefore, the operating costs for each electrode have been calculated. Based on results, it can be concluded that iron is tremendous to aluminum as electrode material, from COD removal and energy consumption views. All the conclusions of the study revealed that treatment of tannery by EC can be applied as a step of a hybrid treatment.

Analysis of Bifenthrin Degrading Bacteria from Rhizosphere of Plants Growing at Tannery Solid Waste

Bifenthrin is an insecticide which is used to control insects, mites, and ticks. It poses a solemn en-vironmental threat and health risk to living organisms. It may be bioaccumulated or biomagnified at different trophic levels in the food chain by biota. Microbes are hidden creature of earth’s biodiversity. For isolation of bifenthrin degrading bacteria, rhizospheric soil samples of plants like Pisum sativum, Triticun aestvum, Chenopodium album were taken from tannery solid waste, Kasur, Pakistan. Enrichment culture techniques were used for the isolation of bacterial strains that showed luxurious growth on minimal growth media with bifenthrin dose was selected for biodegradation study. Bacteria were further screened out based on their morphological, biochemical parameters and degradation efficiency. Furthermore the effect of different growth factors like temperature, pH, inoculum concencentration, minimal inhibitory concentration of heavy metals and antibiotics were also studied. Bacterial strains of Xanthomonas and Bacillus sp. were identified as efficient degrading microbes. Maximum bifenthrin utilization were observed at 25°C (pH 7), with 500 μL inoculum of Bacillus sp., while Xanthomonas sp. gave optimm utilization at 30°C (pH 7) at the same inoculum volume of bacteria. The Rf values of Bacillus sp. and Xanthomonas sp. were 0.91 and 0.90 respectively, which indicated their potential to metabolize bifenthrin into nontoxic forms. These strains can be used to clean up the sites polluted with pesticides and tannery wastes when present in rhizosphere of plants.

Transformation of ammonium nitrogen and response characteristics of nitrifying functional genes in tannery sludge contaminated soil

High concentrations of ammonium nitrogen released from tannery sludge during storage in open air may cause nitrogen pollution to soil and groundwater.To study the transformation mechanism of NH_(4)^(+)-N by nitrifying functional bacteria in tannery sludge contaminated soils,a series of contaminated soil culture experiments were conducted in this study.The contents of ammonium nitrogen(as NH_(4)^(+)-N),nitrite nitrogen(as NO_(2)^(−)-N)and nitrate nitrogen(as NO_(3)^(−)-N)were analyzed during the culture period under different conditions of pollution load,soil particle and redox environment.Sigmodial equation was used to interpret the change of NO_(3)^(−)-N with time in contaminated soils.The abundance variations of nitrifying functional genes(amoA and nxrA)were also detected using the real-time quantitative fluorescence PCR method.The results show that the nitrification of NH_(4)^(+)-N was aggravated in the contaminated silt soil and fine sand under the condition of lower pollution load,finer particle size and more oxidizing environment.The sigmodial equation well fitted the dynamic accumulation curve of the NO_(3)^(−)-N content in the tannery sludge contaminated soils.The Cr(III)content increased with increasing pollution load,which inhibited the reproduction and activity of nitrifying bacteria in the soils,especially in coarse-grained soil.The accumulation of NO_(2)^(−)-N contents became more obvious with the increase of pollution load in the fine sand,and only 41.5%of the NH_(4)^(+)-N was transformed to NO_(3)^(−)-N.The redox environment was the main factor affecting nitrification process in the soil.Compared to the aerobic soil environment,the transformation of NH_(4)^(+)-N was significantly inhibited under anaerobic incubation condition,and the NO_(3)^(−)-N contents decreased by 37.2%,61.9%and 91.9%under low,medium and high pollution loads,respectively.Nitrification was stronger in the silt soil since its copy number of amoA and nxrA genes was two times larger than that of fine sand.Moreover,the copy numbers of amoA and nxrA genes in the silt soil under the aerobic environment were 2.7 times and 2.2 times larger than those in the anaerobic environment.The abundance changes of the amoA and nxrA functional genes have a positive correlation with the nitrification intensity in the tannery sludge-contaminated soil.

Investigation of Subsurface Contamination due to Chromium from Tannery Effluent in Kasur District of Pakistan

The present study is conducted in the scenario of the tannery waste hazards in Kasur district of Pakistan where the tannery industry is considered as major cause of groundwater quality deterioration, Area focused in this research constitutes the surroundings of the effluent carrying drains near tannery units. This study includes soil explorations, groundwater monitoring and wastewater analysis in the research area so as to find out the contamination extent of chromium in subsurface. Initial groundwater monitoring exhibited chromium concentrations as high as 90 mg/L in the tannery area. Even groundwater sampling from monitoring wells installed in the adjacent areas of effluent carrying drains, showed concentrations up to 10.4 mg/L. Wastewater analysis of all the drains in the research area has evidenced potential risk of contaminant seepage into soil and groundwater as level of chromium in wastewater samples has reported to be immensely high and varies from 68 mg/L to 2,152 mg/L. However the 30 soil samples collected from two soil bores did not show any significant results as the maximum values obtained for hexavalent chromium for leaching and retained in soil are 0.02 mg/L and 8.1 mg/kg, respectively. These low concentrations of soil samples suggest that the soil contamination may not be a main environmental issue in the areas adjacent to the effluent carrying drains, The research concludes as possibility of direct interference of the tannery wastewater with groundwater through damaged structures and sewers.

Removal of Chromium (VI) from Tannery Effluent Using Bio-Char of <i>Phoenix reclinata</i>Seeds

The potential of the Senegal date palm (Phoenix reclinata) seed bio-char to remove chromium (VI) ions from aqueous solutions by adsorption was investigated. Adsorption experiments were performed on the tannery effluent and standard aqueous solutions of chromium (VI) for varying adsorbent doses, contact times, pH, temperatures, and interfering anionic ions by batch mode. Phoenix reclinata seeds (PRS) bio-char was used in the investigation and the residual chromium (VI) was determined using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Results showed that the bio-char removed up to 86% of chromium (VI) ions in the effluent at pH 2. The highest percentage adsorption registered was 97% in an aqueous solution of chromium (VI) at pH 1 and this dropped to less than 10% at pH greater than 2. A general increase in adsorption with the increase in temperature was observed but reduced when the temperature was raised beyond 60°C. The presence of interfering anions caused a reduction in the adsorption of chromium (VI) ions. The adsorption process fitted both Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models and the maximum adsorption capacity, Qo, was 0.6593 mg/g. Thus, PRS bio-char can therefore be used by industries and institutions like secondary schools to treat effluents that contain chromium (VI).

Removal of Chromium(III) from the Waste Solution of an Indian Tannery by Amberlite IR 120 Resin

The extraction of chromium(III) from a model waste solution and also from a waste solution of an Indian tannery with Amberlite IR 120 resin is described, and the performance of this resin is compared with other similar resins. The parameters that were optimized include effect of mixing time, pH, loading and elution behaviours of chromium(III) for this resin. Sorption of chromium(III) on Amberlite IR 120 followed Freundlich isotherm and Langmuir isotherm model, and the maximum sorption capacity was determined to be 142.86 mg Cr(III)/g of the resin. Higher Freundlich constant (Kf) values (6.30 and 13.46 for aqueous feed of 500 and 1000 ppm Cr(III)) indicated strong chemical interaction through ion exchange mechanism of the metal ion with the resin. The kinetic data showed good fit to the Lagergren first order model for extraction of chromium(III). Desorption of chromium(III) from the loaded resin increased with the increase in concentration of eluent (5-20% H2SO4). With 20% (v/v) sulphuric acid solution 94% chromium(III) was eluted in three stages. Elution of the Cr(III) in the column experiments was however, found to be lower (82%) than that of the shake flask data. In case of Indian tannery’s waste solution, it was observed that almost total chromium was extracted in four stages with Amberlite IR 120.

Removal of Cr (VI) from Tannery Effluent and Aqueous Solution by Sequential Treatment with Microfungi and Basidiomycete-Degraded Sawdust

Removal of Cr (VI) from aqueous solution and tannery effluent in sequence with Cr (VI) resistant microfungi (Aspergillus niger, Penicillium chrysogenum) and sawdust degraded by basidiomycete (Gloeophyllum sepiarium) was investigated in the laboratory. Initial or primary treatment with microfungi reduced 200 mg/l Cr (VI) in aqueous solution by 64.6% - 78.2% while a markedly lower 0.52 mg/l Cr (VI) in tannery effluent was reduced by 72.4% - 84.6%. However, the residual Cr (VI) in both aqueous solution and tannery effluent was reduced to a non-detectable level after secondary treatment by passage through basidiomycete-degraded sawdust column. The recovery of 65.4% - 87.7% of the Cr (VI) removed by treatment microfungi by elution indicated adsorption as the major mechanism for Cr (VI) removal. The microfungi reduced BOD in tannery effluent by 85.3 ± 5.6 - 92.7 ± 6.8 and concomitantly removed Cr (VI), hence it is hypothesized that non-Cr (VI) constituents of tannery effluent may have interfered with biosorption of Cr (VI) by treatment microfungi. It is concluded that the two-stage sequential treatment process may be of potential cost-saving stratagem for removal of chromium from industrial wastes.

A Comparative Study of Heavy Metal Concentration in Different Layers of Tannery Vicinity Soil and Near Agricultural Soil

This research was conducted to bring out the appropriate level of heavy metal contamination in soil at the site of Buriganga river bank near the Hazaribagh tannery area and the normal agricultural area to evaluate heavy metal contamination in soil due to untreated tannery effluents. AAS flame method was used to determine the concentration of Chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn) in several depths of the soil. Results showed that, the heavy metal concentration in soil at the site of Buriganga river bank in the tannery vicinity and normal agricultural area significantly varies, such as Cr varies (561.71 - 31.23) mg/kg, Zn varies (158.23 - 73.5), Pb varies (70.58 - 24) and Cd varies (2.25 - 0.71) mg/kg in the river bank as well as in the normal agricultural area Cr varies (27.869 - 24.5416) mg/kg, Zn varies (134.167 - 28), Pb varies (25.76 - 22.49) and Cd varies (1.30 - 0.64) mg/kg. The study indicated that heavy metals concentration was found to be significantly higher in river bank soils than in the normal agricultural area. This metal concentration in soil is responsible for the promotion of toxicity in agricultural products. Therefore, the human health and environment are affected by these areas.