EPA-600/2-76-230
September 1976
Environmental Protection Technology Series
LEATHER TANNING AND FINISHING
WASTE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory
Office of Research and Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
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RESEARCH REPORTING SERIES
Research reports of the Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, have been grouped into five series. These five broad
categories were established to facilitate further development and application of
environmental technology. Elimination of traditional grouping was consciously
planned to foster technology transfer and a maximum interface in related fields.
The five series are:
1. Environmental Health Effects Research
2. Environmental Protection Technology
3. Ecological Research
4. Environmental Monitoring
5. Socioeconomic Environmental Studies
This report has been assigned to the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
TECHNOLOGY series. This series describes research performed to develop and
demonstrate instrumentation, equipment, and methodology to repair or prevent
environmental degradation from point and non-point sources of pollution. This
work provides the new or improved technology required for the control and
treatment of pollution sources to meet environmental quality standards.
This document is available to the public through the National Technical Informa-
tion Service. Springfield, Virginia 22161.
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EPA-600/2-76-230
September 1976
LEATHER TANNING AND FINISHING WASTE
MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
By
James F. Scaief
Food and Wood Products Branch
IERL - Cincinnati
Corvallis Field Station
Corvallis, Oregon 97330
INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENTAL. RESFARP.H LABORATORY
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGFNP.Y
CINCINNATI, OHIO 45268
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DISCLAIMER
This report has been reviewed by the Industrial Environmental
Research Laboratory-Cincinnati, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial
products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.
ii
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FOREWORD
When energy and material resources are extracted, processed,
converted, and used, the pollutional impact on our environment
and even on our health often require that new and increasingly
more efficient pollution control methods be used. The Industrial
Environmental Research Laboratory - Cincinnati (IERL-CI) assists
in developing and demonstrating new and improved methodologies
that will meet these needs both efficiently and economically.
"Leather Tanning and Finishing Waste Management Research and
Development Program" reviews waste management research and develop-
ment activities for the leather tanning and finishing industry,
emphasizing EPA's efforts. Other U.S. organizations involved are
listed along with brief descriptions of their objectives. Research
needs are also defined. For further information please contact the
Food and Wood Products Branch of the Industrial Environmental Re-
search Laboratory, Cincinnati.
David G. Stephan
Director
Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory
Cincinnati
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ABSTRACT
Reviewed herein is the waste management research and development program
for the leather tanning and finishing industry. Emphasis is placed on
the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) role, both past and present,
and major developments over the past few years outside EPA, including
international developments. Furture waste management needs for the
industry are defined and organizations involved in the field are presented
with a brief description of their objectives.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section Page
I. Summary and Conclusions 1
II. Introduction 3
III. Discharge Limitations 6
IV. Organizations Involved in Field of Waste Reduction 9
A. Governmental
B. Non-Governmental
V. Review of Recent Work within the Industry 12
A. EPA Projects
B. Non-EPA Projects
VI. On-going EPA Projects 30
VII. Future Areas of Concern 32
VIII.References 35
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Appreciation is given to the following individuals who reviewed this
report and supplied many helpful comments.
W. L. Banks Donald F. Anderson
EPA, Region VII Effluent Guidelines Division-EPA
Dr. R. M. Lollar Eugene L. Kilik
Technical Director Executive Vice-President
Tanners' Council of America, Inc. Tanners' Council of America, Inc.
Jack L. Witherow James R. Boydston
EPA-Corvallis, OR EPA-Corvallis, OR
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SECTION I
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The status of research on waste management in the leather tanning and
finishing industry and review of recent literature, including both
national and international developments, is presented. Areas covered
consist of changes to recycle and reuse waste streams within the tannery
processes, and methods of wastewater treatment.
EPA's waste research program in the tanning industry consists of three
on-going extramural projects and four completed projects. Five of the
seven projects deal with methods of waste treatment and the other two
with in-plant methods of reducing the waste load.
Organizations involved in waste reduction practices dealing with the
tanning industry are described. These consist of governmental as well
as the trade associations.
The industry categorization and the associated discharge limitations and
proposed pretreatment standards are presented from the Federal Register
in order to show the present and future needs in wastewater mangement.
Much of the effort in wastewater management, due to increasing stringent
regulations and surcharges for discharge to municipal treatment, should
be directed toward reduction of the waste load emanating from the tannery.
The results obtained from this type of effort will be beneficial not
only to the tanner discharging to municipal treatment systems, but also
to the one providing its own treatment. In-plant waste management is a
necessary part of the scheme to produce a discharge to the receiving
body of water that is capable of meeting the July 1, 1983 limitations.
Changes in a particular plant will be controlled by the type of product
and limited to those which maintain the desired product quality.
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More effort is needed in this country toward direct reuse of chrome
tanning solutions after regeneration as a viable alternative to either
discharging to the treatment system or recovery of chromium by precipita-
tion.
Other areas of reducing the waste load needing development are the
recycle of lime-sulfide unhairing liquors, reducing the amount of lime
used, utilizing alternatives to lime-sulfide unhairing and unhairing in
the first soak liquor.
Demonstration of an overall wastewater management system, both in-plant
and end of pipe treatment, for meeting the 1983 Best Available Technology
Economically Achievable (BATEA) limits should be placed on a high priority
by the organizations involved in development of wastewater treatment
technology for the industry. The utilization of the oxidation ditch or
equivalent, with its ability to consistently produce a low strength
effluent, after primary treatment may be a key element in a system
designed to meet BATEA limits.
Finally, due to the unknown effect that new synthetic tannins might have
on biological waste treatment, the toxicity of such should be determined
prior to use within the industry.
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SECTION II
INTRODUCTION
The leather tanning and finishing industry, though not a major polluter
nationwide, can contribute substantially to the wastewater problem in
localized areas. The industry's wastewaters are characterized by the
following parameters: 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BODg), chemical
oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), total Kjeldahl
nitrogen (TKN), chromium, oil and grease (O&G), sulfide and pH. The
beamhouse and tanhouse impart the major portion of the waste load. A
flow diagram of a typical cattlehide tannery is shown in Figure 1 to
show the sources of the wastewaters. The source of the nitrogen is
mainly from the unhairing and bating steps. Sulfide and lime are from
the unhairing process and chromium comes from the tanning process. Much
•
of the research is directed toward removing or reducing the magnitude of
these waste constituents in the waste stream. Efforts are toward
recovering for later reuse or removing them from the waste stream along
with research into methods to prevent certain tannery processes from
contributing to the waste stream.
Tanning has developed as an art through the years based on the experience
of individuals who have been associated with the industry. Many of the
decisions within the tannery are based on the "feel of the process" by
these individuals. Though this method produces excellent leather, it may
not be the most desirable one from a waste standpoint. Uith the inception
of the discharge limitations, the tanner is forced to have more scientific
control over the processes in order to know what is entering the waste
stream and in what quantity. This requires the change of some long used
processes in addition to greater chemical control over the operations.
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FLOW DIAGRAM
TYPICAL CATTLEHIDE TANNERY
LEGEND
HIDES AND LEATHER
PROCESS MATERIALS
BY-PRODUCTS AND
WASTE SOLIDS
LIQUID WASTES
BEAMHOUSE
GREEN SALTED
AND/OR 8RINED
HIDES
1ATEJL _
.SHARPENERS
RECEIVING
STORAGE
SIDE 8 TRIM
WASH 8 SOAK
FLESH
UNHAIR
(SAVE HAIR)
.WATER. _f
-S41T
_ACIP__T
_CHROME__
SIDES
TANHOUSE
BATE
PICKLE
TAN (CHROME)
SPLIT
SHAVE
RETAN-COLOR-FATLIQUOR
FINISHING
GRAIN SIDES
i ULESHINGS
JH.AIR
WASTE EFFLUENT
ETAN (CHROME)
OLOR
ATLIOUOR
?
GRAIN SIDES ^
f«ZX
DRYIf
COAT
STAK
PLAT
SAND
WASTE EFFLUENT
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The objectives of this report are to present the technology that has
been recently demonstrated or that needs to be undertaken to meet the
effluent limitations and to provide an initial guide to the literature
and organizations involved with waste management in the leather tanning
industry.
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SECTION III
DISCHARGE LIMITATIONS
Under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, EPA
was given the authority to administer a new wastewater discharge permit
system. The law sets the dates for compliance to the new limitations as
July 1, 1977, for the application of the best practicable control
technology currently available and July 1, 1983, for application of the
best available control technology economically achievable. The 1977
limits are based on the average of the more exemplary plants within the
industry. For the case of the leather tanning and finishing industry,
the effluent limitations are based on reduction attainable by treatment
systems in the meat industry where the technology can be effectively
transferred to the leather tanning and finishing industry. The transfer
of technology does not include the transfer of meat industry performance
requirements. For the leather tanning and finishing industry the final.
limits allowed are about three times the final effluent BOD,- concentrations
used to establish the meat industry effluent limits. The 1983 limits
are based on the best control and treatment of waste employed within the
industry. A summary of the promulgated guidelines is shown in Table 1;
Figure 2 further defines the six categories within the industry.
For tanneries discharging to municipal treatment systems, certain
wastewater parameters have been determined compatible with biological
treatment and require no pretreatment. Proposed pretreatment standards
for incompatabile pollutants are outlined in the Federal Register (2)
and are limited to chromium, and oil and grease. For these pollutants
the 1977 effluent limitations guidelines as set forth for tanneries
discharging to navigable waters shall apply.
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Table 1. LEATHER TANNING & FINISHING EFFLUENT STANDARD
Federal Register, Vol. 39, No. 69,-4/9/74
Maximum for any 1 day (kg/1000 kg raw material)
Average of daily values for 30 consecutive days shall not exceed (1/2) max.
Hair Pulp Unhairing with
Chrome Tanning & Finishing
Parameter
BOD5
TSS
Chromium (Total)
0 & G
Sulfide
TKN
1977
8.0
10.0
0.20
1.50
—
—
1983
2.8
3.0
.1
1.06
.01
.54
Hair Save Unhairing with
Chrome Tanning & Finishing
1977
9.2
11.6
.24
1.80
--
--
1983
3.2
3.6
.12
1.26
.012
.64
Unhairing with Vegetable or
Alum Tanning & Finishing
1977
7.6
9.6
.1
1.50
—
—
1983
2.6
2.8
.1
1.0
.01
.5
Finishing of
Tanned
1977
3.2
4.0
.20
.50
--
—
Hides
1983
1.0
1.2
.04
.48
.004
.2
Vegetable or Chrome
Tanning of Unhaired Hides
Unhairing with Chrome
Tanning & No Finishing
Parameter
1977
1983
BODg
TSS
Chromium (Total)
0 & G
Sulfide
TKN
9.6
12.0
.12
1.80
--
—
3.2
3.6
.12
1.26
.012
.62
1977
5.6
6.8
.20
.70
1983
1.4
1.6
.06
.68
.006
.28
NOTE: pH limit for all subcategories is within the range of fi.O -9.0
Fecal coliform limit (1983 only), max. at any time = 400 counts/100 ml.
New Source limit is same as for 1977 limits for corresponding subcategory.
For production <17,000 kg hide, BODg and TSS limits are 1.5 x above limits.
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TANNERY TYPE
CATEGORIES
TANNERY TYPE
CATTLE
PULP
CHROME
SIDES
CATTLE
PULP 8 SAVE
CHROME
SIDES
CATTLE
PULP 8 SAVE
VEGETABLE 8 CHROME
SIDES
SHEEP
PULP
CHROME
SKINS
CATTLE
SAVE
CHROME
SIDES
DEER
SAVE
CHROME
SKINS
_/¥S¥S¥i¥:¥3¥S¥S¥S
CATEGORY 2
CATTLE
SAVE
VEGETABLE
SIDES
CATTLE
PULP
VEGETABLE
SIDES
CATTLE
PULP
ALUM
SIDES
CATTLE
SAVE
ALUM
SIDES
CATTLE
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
PREVIOUSLY TANNED
SIDES
CATTLE
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
PREVIOUSLY TANNED
SPLITS
SHEEP
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
PREVIOUSLY TANNED
SKINS
DEER
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
PREVIOUSLY TANNED
SKINS
¥:¥S¥S:¥Sft¥:¥:¥:¥:?x,
CATEGORY 5
CATTLE
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
CHROME
SIDES
CATTLE
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
CHROME
SPLITS
CATTLE
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
VEGETABLE
SIDES
CATTLE
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
VEGETABLE
SPLITS
PIG
SKINS
SHEEP
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
CHROME
SKINS
SHEEP
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
VEGETABLE
SKINS
SHEEP
HAIR PREVIOUSLY REMOVED
VEGETABLE 8 CHROME
SKINS
SHEEP
HAIR RETAINED
CHROME
SKINS
SHEEP
HAIR RETAINED
VEGETABLE
SKINS
KEY: TANNERY TYPE
SKIN OR HIDE
BEAMHOUSE OPERATION
TANNING PROCESS
FINISHING
CATEGORY SYSTEM
Figure 2. Leather tanning and finishing
effluent limitation categories
8
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SECTION IV
ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED IN FIELD OF WASTE REDUCTION
To make available information regarding organizations actively
involved in or supporting research in waste reduction in the leather
tanning industry, following is a list of these groups with a short
summary explaining their operations.
1. Food and Wood Products Branch
IERL - Cincinnati
Corvallis Field Station
200 SW 35th Street
Corvallis, Oregon 97330
Kenneth A. Dostal, Chief-Food Wastes Research
(503) 752-4211
This center is administering research projects to demonstrate new or
novel waste reducing practices which have widespread applicability in
the industry. The goal is to demonstrate technology for no discharge
of pollutants by July 1, 1985. Four projects are completed and three
are currently in progress. Five are concerned with waste treatment
and the other two deal with in-plant methods to reduce pollution.
These are discussed further in Sections V and VI.
2. U.S. Department of Agriculture
Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC)
600 E. Mermaid Lane
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19118
Dr. J. W. Harlan, Chief-Hides and Leather Laboratory
(215) 247-5800
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This center is developing procedures for reducing the pollution that
results from processing hides and skins into leather. At present the
laboratory is involved in the investigation of bio-oxidation of lime-
sulfide unhairing effluent with acclimated activated sludge as a means
of reducing the waste discharge.
3. Tanner's Council of America, Inc. (TCA)
411 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10016
Irving R. Glass, President (212) 686-7950
This council is a trade association of U.S. firms engaged in leather
tanning and finishing. Its functions are to provide its members services
pertinent to the operation of the tanning industry. These include
compilation and distribution of statistics, development of technical
standards, promotion, representation of the industry to the Federal
government, weekly newsletter, and maintenance of a research laboratory.
4. Tanners' Council Research Laboratory
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221
William T. Roddy, Dir. (513) 475-2643
The research laboratory of the Tanners' Council offers members services
for testing and analyzing products and materials, provides personnel to
members for consultation on specialized problems, and makes available
information and conducts workshops on waste management methods.
10
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5. American Leather Chemists Association (ALCA)
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221
William T. Roddy, Sec.-Tres. (513) 475-2643
The ALCA holds annual technical meetings, maintains standing, active
technical committees and it publishes monthly the Journal of the American
Leather Chemists Association which summarizes developments in all subject
areas of the leather industry. The Association has a standing committee
in the wastewater abatement field and has sponsored three recent wastewater
symposia.
11
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SECTION V
REVIEW OF RECENT WORK WITHIN THE INDUSTRY
EPA Projects
There are four completed projects sponsored by the EPA in addition to an
in-house report. A tabulation and description of these follow:
EPA Research Report Number
12120 9/69
12120 9/70
12120DIK 12/70
EPA-R2-73-209 4/73
Title/Author
Activated Sludge Treatment pjf Chrome
Tannery Wastes; A. C. Lawrence Leather
Co., South Paris, Maine.
Treatment of_ Sole Leather Vegetable
Tannery Wastes; Dr. J. David Eye,
University of Cincinnati.
Anaerobic-Aerobic Lagoon Treatment
for Vegetable Tanning Wastes; Clinton
E. Parker, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville.
Secondary Waste Treatment for a^
Small Diversified Tannery; Edward
L. Thackston, Caldwell Lace
Leather Co., Auburn, Kentucky.
EPA In-house Report
EPA-440/1-74-016-a
Development Document for Eff1uent
Limitations Guidelines and New Source
Performance Standards for the Leather
Tanning and Finishing Point Source
Category; Effluent Guidelines Division,
U.S. EPA.
12
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Activated Sludge Treatment p_f Chrome Tannery Hastes - consisted in
pilot-plant scale, the development and testing of a waste treatment
process for combined tannery and municipal sewage capable of meeting the
stream classification standards established for direct discharge. The
process consisted of equalizing and mixing of the alkaline and acid
water, primary sedimentation, addition of screened municipal sewage,
activated sludge treatment and secondary sedimentation of the mixed
waste, and chlorination. Sludges resulting from the treatment of the
wastes and sewage were dewatered by centrifuge and were found to be
suitable for burial. Design factors for the process were developed, and
studies were made of the reactions which form the basis for the processes
employed in the pilot plant.
The results indicate that by use of conventional sewage treatment unit
processes, mixtures of chrome tannery wastes and municipal sewage could be
treated successfully. Operating at 0.03 I/sec (0.5 gpm) sanitary sewage
and 0.13 I/sec (2.0 gpm) of carbonation basin effluent produced an
average BOD5 of 32 mg/1 with a high of 93 mg/1 and a low of 14 mg/1, the
suspended solids removal averaged 75 percent with a resultant effluent
concentration of about 200 mg/1, sulfide removal through the system
averaged 99 percent or a 0.76 mg/1 final effluent, and chromium averaged
3.6 mg/1 for an 88 percent removal. The mechanism by which the sulfide
was removed was found to be a biological process in which the sulfides
are oxidized to sulfate. To test the effect of chromium on the activated
sludge, additions of tri-valent chromium ranging in concentrations of
40-160 mg/1 were made to the influent of the aeration basin. It was
determined that there was no negative effect on the operation of the
activated sludge unit.
Capital and operating cost of full-scale treatment of combined 3785
cubic meters (one million gallons) tannery and municipal effluent was
estimated at $0.016 per foot of leather based on September 1969 costs.
13
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Treatment of Sole Leather Vegetable Tannery Waste - involved four major
studies, two pilot-scale and two full-scale. The basic objective of the
studies was to find a technically feasible and economic procedure for
treating the wastes from a sole leather vegetable tannery. A detailed
identification of the sources of all wastes as well as a comprehensive
characterization of each waste fraction was made for the International
Shoe Company Tannery located at Marlinton, West Virginia.
A large percentage of the pollutants initially were found in a relatively
small fraction of the total waste volume. The treatment scheme consisted
of separation and pretreatment of the individual waste streams followed
by mixing all waste streams for additional treatment in an anaerobic-
aerobic lagoon system. The lime bearing wastes from the beamhouse were
screened, treated with polyelectrolytes, and then clarified. The lime
sludge was used for landfill. The system was designed to treat 3785
cubic meters (one million gallons) of waste per week. BOD,- was reduced
85-95 percent.
Cost of the total system was approximately $40,000 and operating costs
were estimated at $15,000 per year or $0.07 per hide processed.
Anaerobic-Aerobic Lagoon Treatment for Vegetable Tanning Wastes -
consisted of a laboratory and field development project at Virginia Oak
Tannery, Inc., Luray, Virginia. The purpose was to evaluate the effective-
ness of an anaerobic-aerobic lagoon in treating spent vegetable tannins
blended with batepool and soak wastewaters. The anaerobic-aerobic
lagoon system was used to treat combined waste streams with BOD5
concentration of approximately 1000 mg/1. Aeration and volume of the
lagoon were fixed and flow to the system was increased so as to observe
five operational phases. These phases resulted in the system going from
aerobic to anaerobic-aerobic conditions. After reaching anaerobic-
14
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aerobic conditions, doubling the BOD5 load did not result in a signifi-
cant decrease in BOD5 removal efficiency. At a loading of 1.73 Ibs of
BOD5/ 1000 ft3/day/B.hp. and 7,000 Ibs of COD/1000 ft3/day/B.hp., an
anaerobic-aerobic lagoon 4.5 meters deep (15 feet), aerated with mechanical
aerators, provide soluble BODr removal of 81 percent and soluble COD
removal of 58 percent.
The lagoon system proved successful in removing degradable organics but
the color of the wastewater was not reduced by this method of treatment.
The author concluded that a major problem in treatment was the color due
to spent vegetable tannins and that it will dictate the most desirable
approach to wastewater treatment.
A completely mixed aeration unit was used in the laboratory to study the
biological degradation of spent vegetable tannins. Concentrated and
diluted tannins were studied by varying the detention time in the
aeration unit. It was found that approximately 60 percent of the COD of
spent vegetable tannins wasnot biologically degradable and the generally
accepted substrate-growth interaction relationship required modification
to take into account the non-degradable fraction of COD. Yield coefficient,
endogenous respiration rate, and specific growth were computed from the
results of the laboratory study.
Secondary Waste Treatment for a_ Small Diversified Tannery - reported on
the feasibility of completely treating tannery wastes in a tannery that
uses all three types of leather tannages (chrome, vegetable, and alum).
This was demonstrated on a full-scale operation at the Caldwell Lace
Leather Co. of Auburn, Kentucky, and basic design data for full-scale
treatment applicable to other tanneries was obtained.
15
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A modified completely-mixed activated sludge plant was constructed along
with facilities to handle specific problem wastes. A study conducted
after a year's operation showed that the plant was performing as expected
except for solids carryover from the secondary clarifier due to mechanical
problems. After correction, the plant removed 97 percent of the suspended
solids and 95 percent of the BODg. The plant was operating as an extended
aeration plant due to conservation measures in the tannery which reduced
the waste load.
The Development Document for Eff1uent Limitation Guidelines and New
Source Performance Standards for the Leather Tanning and Finishing Point
Source Category (1) is an EPA publication which summarizes wastewater
characteristics and treatment technology. As explained in the report,
this document presents the findings of an extensive study of the industry
for the purpose of developing effluent limitations guidelines, standards
of performance, and pretreatment standards. Supportive data and rationale
for development of the proposed effluent limitations guidelines are
contained in the report.
Non-EPA Projects
Recent efforts in wastewater management outside EPA are reviewed and
presented. The industry journals which are readily available and
provide regular reporting of recent developments in the industry are the
source of most of the work reviewed here and a listing can be obtained
from Section VIII, References.
Tannery Wastewater Disposal
New developments in the disposal of tannery wastewater were reported by
van Vlimmeren and van Meer (3). Three areas of concern are discussed
and are as follows: 1) Reduction in the amount and degree of pollution
16
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of the effluent, 2) treatment of tannery wastewater and, 3) charges to
be paid. Water use reduction is reported from 100-200 I/kg of hide to
25 I/kg by the introduction of batch washing to replace continuous
rinsing. Other methods to reduce the waste load reported are mixing of
beamhouse and tanhouse waste flows, hair-save unhairing, and unhairing
in the first soaking liquor. In the latter case, after acidification to
pH 3.5 and settling, the COD and nitrogen content in the effluent from
soaking-unhairing is reduced by 89 and 90 percent, respectively.
Tannery wastewater treatment is centered on the areas of sulfide removal,
chromium removal, and biological oxidation. The recommended treatment
for sulfides is oxidation after addition of a manganous salt as a catalyst.
Due to increasingly stringent regulations regarding chromium, the authors
recommend recovery from the spent liquor and reuse in the tanning operations,
For biological treatment, the advantages of an oxidation ditch are
discussed with reports of successful full-scale operation. Various
surcharge systems for payment when discharging to municipal treatment
are discussed along with a system developed by the Institute for Leather
and Shoe Research which is in use in Holland today.
Treatment of Tannery Effluents
Bailey (4) in a two-part article presents a review of tannery effluents
and their treatment. Part 1 deals with the origin and composition of
the effluents. Each process and subprocess is discussed with its
contribution to the wasteload.
The conclusion deals with methods of treating the effluent with emphasis
on discharge to public sewers. For protection of the sewer and the
biological treament process, methods of sulfide and chromium salts
removal are discussed in the pretreatment scheme.
17
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Tannery Effluent Disposal: Water Quality Aspects
Summarized by Ludvik, et al. (5) are the effects of tannery effluents
upon water quality, including organoleptic and toxic effects. Organoleptic
properties consist of odor, color, and foaming. The toxic properties of
some chemicals used in the tannery are investigated with Bacillus mega-
therium as the test organism. The LD5Q concentrations of sulfides, tri-
,and hexa-valent chromium are such that effluents out of normal tannery
operations would not be lethal. It was found that two very toxic agents,
pyrocatechol and pyrogallol, originating in synthetic tannins and vegetable
tan liquors, respectively, are lethal at doses as little as 3 mg/1.
Higher organisms were found to be more sensitive, and mixed cultures
were more resistant to destruction.
Disposal methods for the tannery effluent are outlined with equations
given for optimization of design and operation of an activated sludge
process. Sludge processing research concludes that the loading of
sludge beds by dry substance under the climatic conditions of Czechoslovakia
2
can be operated successfully at 150-200 kg/m per year and that the dose
of chromium in the sludge should not be higher than 1000 kg/hectare.
Cattlehide Processing: Water Pollution Reduction
Alternatives are presented by Poats and Naghski (6) to the traditional
method of receiving salt cured hides in the tannery. Two solutions are
proposed; 1) Transfer of beamhouse operations to hide processor where
green hides are blue chrome tanned and 2) transfer of total tanning
operations to the hide processor who would then market fully tanned
(crust) leather to the finisher.
18
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A study was made to determine the feasibility of the two alternatives.
Preliminary results indicate both processes would be feasible from a
leather quality point of view. Analysis regarding the economic feasibility
of the alternatives will be reported at a later date. Problems the
industry would experience upon adoption of either alternative would be
1) the question of the marketability of chrome-tanned leather, 2) investment
in new equipment and relocation of skilled labor by hide processor, 3)
loss of internal quality control of hide material by tanners and 4)
maintenance of salt-curing facilities to supply the export market.
Tannery Wastes Commission
The minutes of the International Union of Leather Technologists and
Chemists Societies fifth meeting are reported in the Journal of the
Society of Leather Technologists and Chemists (7). Various members were
given the duty to collect and collate information on topics to be
considered by the Commission and their reports are presented in the
minutes. Only the topics and authors are presented below and the report
should be referred to for further details.
1. Influence of unhairing method upon the amount and degree of
pollution - W. Fendrup (Denmark).
2. Improvements in the uptake of tannins by Skin -A. J. J. van
Meer (Holland).
3. Sulphide oxidation - D. A. Bailey (Great Britain) and A. J. J.
van Meer.
4. Methods of Biological Treatment - A. J. J. van Meer.
5. Toxic Effluents of Sulphide and Chromium - D. A. Bailey.
6. Effect of Mixing Tannery Effluent with Domestic Sewage - W.
Frendrup.
19
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7. Sludge Disposal - B. Vulliermet (France)
8. Specific Criteria for the Discharge of Tannery Effluents:
Methods for the Assessment of Charge - P. J. van Vlimmeren
(Holland).
Chromium Recovery and Reuse
Hauck (8) reports on three methods of chrome recovery and reuse in order
to utilize the unspent portion of chrome in the tanning process which
amounts to about 30 percent. These three methods are reuse through
replenishment, direct reuse of the spent liquor, and chrome recovery.
For reuse, a review of past work in this area is covered with reports of
successful operation. Suggestions are given by the author on possible
modifications of the processes covered in the review. The next possibility
for chrome utilization, through direct reuse of the spent liquor, is
discussed with the possible use in either the pickle liquor or as float
in tanning. Several methods of chrome recovery are reviewed with the
conclusion that precipitation with an alkali was most feasible in producing
the chromium in a form suitable for reuse in a fresh liquor. Procedures
are given for preparing the product for reuse along with tables showing
the amount of various alkali necessary per quantity of chromic oxide.
Trivalent Chromium in Tannery Effluents
van Meer (9) presents a review of information on the use of chromium in
order to clear up misconceptions that might exist regarding its presence
in tannery effluents. Four areas covered are; 1) tanning with chromium
salts, 2) amounts of tri-valent chromium (Cr +) discharged and general
precautions which can reduce these amounts 3) toxicity of tri-valent
20
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chromium in wastewaters, and 4) tri-valent chromium in the sludge of
sewage works. He concludes that: 1) Tannery effluents do not contain
Cr , 2) A distinction must be made between Cr and Cr and also
between soluble and insoluble Cr compounds when setting effluent
limitations, 3) It must be considered if the sludge will be disposed on
land or not when regulatory agencies establish a tolerance level for
O.L. OX
Cr , 4) Within certain limits the amounts of Cr discharged per day
may be more important that the concentration.
Chrome Tanning Systems
Davis and Scroggie (10) present a series of five articles dealing with
the investigation of commercial chrome tanning systems. The five are as
follows:
1. Separation of the complexes present by gel filtration and
effects of aging and basification.
2. The rate of uptake by hide of the different chromium complexes
from solution.
3. Recylcing of used chrome liquors.
4. Recycling of chrome liquors and their use as a basis for
pickling.
5. Recycling of chrome liquors in commercial practice.
In part 1, methods and results of experiments on the separation of the
chromium complexes are given. The distribution of the complexes are
determined after aging in both unbasified and basified solutions. The
rate of uptake by the hide of the chromium complexes is then determined.
21
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Experiments resulted in chromium uptakes from 64 to 82 percent. It was
determined that the poor exhaustion was a result of a mass-action effect
and not inactive complexes. From this it was concluded that recycle of
chrome liquors would be feasible in the sense that there would be no
buildup of inactive complexes in the liquor.
Part 3, involving recycle of used chrome liquors was first accomplished
on small-scale trials for a period of 13 successive runs with no
problem. It was reported, after chemical analyses that the
concentration of chromium, sodium chloride, and sodium sulfate in the
residual liquor had stabilized after three cycles and that there was no
decrease in the rate of chromium uptake. Succeeding large scale trials
accomplished similar results with no deterioration in leather quality.
In part 4, feasible results are given of efforts using spent chrome
liquors as a basis for pickling prior to regeneration for chrome
tanning. Reported advantages of this system are the ease at which it
fits into the industry trend to use short pickle systems, the decrease
in the use of neutral salt in processing, and the removal of the pickle
effluent from the waste stream.
Part 5, details successful application of the preceding process on a
commercial scale. Reagent costs are substantially reduced in addition
to waste load reduction using this process. It is stated that in-plant
changes to adopt the recycle system require at most some modification of
existing conventional tanning drums to allow recovery of the liquor and
installation of facilities for holding and transferring the liquor.
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Tannery Effluent Control
Satyendra (11) reports on efforts to reduce the strength of the effluent
at Garden State Tanning Co., Reading, Pennsylvania. Initial efforts
were toward the reduction of sulfide. A 40 percent decrease was
obtained by adopting a hide processor. To reduce the remaining sulfide,
several methods were attempted. These included treating with ferrous
sulfate to precipitate an insoluble ferrous sulfide, and oxidation of
ferrous sulfide using manganese sulfate as a catalyst. Also studied was
the use of nickel chloride and manganese chloride as catalysts. Pilot-
plant experiments proved the use of manganese sulfate most encouraging.
++
Best oxidation was obtained when the amount of Mn added is one tenth
the amount of S~ present in the system and by dissolving the catalytic
agent prior to addition in the aeration tank.
Chrome recovery was obtained using the optimum amount of lime and
Primafloc A-10 (Rohm and Haas) for the most rapid precipitation without
formation of cloudiness and discoloration. For that particular waste,
the most optimum quantities were for every 170 liters of exhaust chrome
liquor, 852.7 grams lime powder and 157.5 grams Primafloc A-10 would be
needed. The chrome sludge was then dissolved in concentrated sulfuric
acid forming chromium sulfate for reuse in tanning.
Recycle of Unhairing Liquor
Results of small-scale trials on recycling of lime-sulfide unhairing
liquors were reported by Money and Adminis (12) in which the liquors have
been recycled up to 27 times without deterioration in leather quality.
Different soak methods were compared to determine which did not cause a
buildup of salt in the liquor that would affect the swelling and
unhairing. Matched-side trials were conducted comparing -
23
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1. conventional unhairing and unhairing with lime recycle after
solids removal,
2. conventional unhairing and unhairing with lime recycle and no
solids removal, and
3. unhairing using lime recycle with solids and unhairing using
lime recycle without solids.
All three trials produced no inferior quality leather. Reports are that
fats accumulate in recycled lime liquors if the solids are not removed.
Advantages stated by the authors are the improved effluent quality and
the savings in water use. The work has been extended to large-scale
tannery trials.
Lime-Sulfide Effluent: Protein Recovery
Happich, et al, (13) report results of research and experiments in the
recovery of proteins from lime-sulfide unhairing effluents of several
tanneries, and the analysis and nutritional value of the recovered
proteins. Procedures are given for the recovery and purification of the
proteins. The four major steps are -
1. Separation of suspended solids from solution.
2. Separation of soluble inorganic compounds.
3. Acid precipitation of the proteins.
4. Washing and drying of the proteins.
Attention was given to the effect of the precipitation pH on the composi-
tion of the proteins and to the effect of aging the effluent on protein
recovery and composition. The precipitates at pH 5.0 and 3.8 had
24
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respective protein contents of 9.2 and 3.8 percent. Results of aging
the effluent for 30 days at 25°C produced undesirable changes in the
yield, properties, and composition of the protein product.
Alternative Approach to Unhairing
Heidemann, et al., (14) report on a pilot-scale process using sodium
peroxide in an alternate approach to unhairing. By placing the hides in
a strong sodium peroxide solution the hair is destroyed quickly and the
fiber structure is opened up in an hour. The process, from the raw
hides to a wet blue leather stock, takes only six hours.
Liming and Tanning Without Effluent
Williams-Wynn (15) review methods for eliminating or reducing the waste
load from the individual processes in leather tanning. Alternatives to
salt curing are proposed with one method by the use of sodium chlorite.
None of the methods are feasible for long term storage of the hides.
In the beamhouse, alternatives to liming are proposed with the most
promising one being caustic soda but it also creates a sludge problem as
with lime. Experiments by Williams-Wynn have shown that tanners in the
hair-save process apply much more lime (4 percent solution) than necessary
(1 percent solution), thus resulting in undissolved lime in the effluent.
Vegetable tannages with essentially no-effluent are discussed. These
are the Liritan (Leather Industries Research Institute) process and the
more advantageous Liritan Semi-Rapid Sole Leather Tannage now in use in
South Africa. It combines the no-effluent properties of the former with
the speed of drum tanning.
25
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Beamhouse Wastewater: Chemical Treatment
Experiments into the reduction of the waste load from the beamhouse
operations were reported by van Meer (16). This reduction was accomplished
by the acidification of the residual liquors. The scheme involves
oxidation in order to remove the sulfides. Several laboratory-scale
experiments were carried out using the effluents from soaking, unhairing
and liming or combinations thereof. It was found that segregation of
the liming liquor and reuse of the soaking liquor in the unhairing
operation was most feasible. This reduced the effluent to about 3-4
I/kg hide and reduced the COD and N load of the wastewater from these
two operations by 89 and 90 percent, respectively. By keeping the
liming liquor segregated, it was found that it contributed only 8 and 5
percent of the total COD and N load, respectively. Other benefits found
from the above process are the good dewatering and filtering properties
of the sludge. It was concluded that modification of the beamhouse
process as suggested would be consistent with good leather quality.
Treatment for a Small Tannery
Young (17) discusses the waste treatment program at A. H. Ross and Sons
Company prior to discharge to municipal treatment. It was desired to
eliminate the multiple discharge (three sewer outlets) which carried
combined wastes from the beamhouse, tan room, fat liquor and color
mills, and pasting operations. The new system consistedof an equalization
basin with an excess of beamhouse waste so there was no chance of hydrogen
sulfide generation due to the pH staying above 10, hydrasieve, settling
basin, neutralization tank, and finally discharge to the sewer. Results
in effluent load were SS, 327 mg/1 (81 percent reduction); BOD, 296 mg/1
(65 percent reduction); fats and grease, 42 mg/1 (80 percent reduction);
and chromium, 8.6 mg/1 (95 percent reduction).
26
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Unhairing Effluents: Effects of Flocculants on Sedimentation
Experiments were conducted by Cooper, et al., (18) to determine the
effects of various flocculants on the sedimentation of organic solids in
tannery unhairing effluents. Several methods and agents were tried,
including varying the order of addition. Alum was found unsuitable
because of the need to lower the pH to 8 in order to cause flocculation
which results in the release of hydrogen sulfide gas. Highest removals
were obtained by first adding an anionic polyelectrolyte then a cationic
polyelectrolyte followed by an inorganic electrolyte. Using this
method, the COD was reduced by 56 percent and the volatile organic
solids by 98 percent.
Wastewater Treatment
Kinman (19j describes the options studied for upgrading the wastewater
treatment plant at Bona Allen, Inc., Buford, Georgia. Considered were
activated sludge and an aerated lagoon. The existing system consisted
of screening, equalization, chemical feed, primary clarification,
trickling filter, and secondary clarification. An aerated lagoon was
chosen for use after secondary clarification due to ease of operation
and uniformity of the effluent as compared to the activated sludge unit.
Removal of selected wastewater parameters in the aerated lagoon over a
40 day operation period included the following percent removals, 48.1
for BOD,-, 17.1 for COD, 18.7 for color, and 17.2 for the tannin.
High Rate Biofliters
Bailey, et al. (20) report on the application of high rate bio-filters
in the leather tanning industry. Four possible applications are -
27
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1. pretreatment prior to municipal treatment,
2. roughing process prior to treatment in a conventional plant,
3. relief of overloaded existing plant, and
4. "partial" biological treatment for effluents discharging to
river estuaries.
Reports on pilot plant operation of the high-rate bio-filter in the
leather industry show an average removal of 40 percent of the applied
BOD. He suggests that chemical pretreatment with lime and iron or alum
salts would prove feasible in reducing the size of subsequent biological
treatment. Cost comparison with conventional filters show the high-rate
filter being preferable.
Huber and Jones (21) report on efforts in the design and construction of
combined treatment for municipal and leather tanning wastes in which the
tannery contributed 20 percent of the flow and 90-95 percent of the BOD
and suspended solids. Major design considerations consisted of the
following:
1. Transportation of tannery waste.
2. Selection of method of treatment.
3. Protection of secondary treatment process.
4. Solids dewatering and disposal.
5. Odor control.
Pretreatment facilities constructed at the tannery included screening
for the hide and beamhouse wastewaters prior to combining with the rest
of the tannery flow which enters an equalization tank. Processes chosen
in the plant design were:
28
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1. Comminution and grit removal for the municipal wastewater,
2. aerated quick-mix tank for the blending and addition of
chemicals to the combined tannery wastewater flow,
3. primary clarification of the combined wastewater flow,
4. activated sludge aeration system,
5. final clarification, and
6. chlorination.
The total construction cost was $4.2 million with operation and mainten-
ance cost estimated at $0.046 per cubic meter ($175 per million gallons)
for domestic waste and $0.137 per cubic meter ($520 per million gallons)
for the tannery waste.
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SECTION VI
ON-GOING EPA PROJECTS
Current projects funded by the EPA are as follows:
1. "Aerobic Biological Treatment, Sludge Dewatering and Disposal,
and Effluent Reuse for a Side Leather Tannery" S. B. Foot
Tanning Co., Red Wing, Minnesota.
2. "Removal and Recovery of Sulfide from Tannery Wastes" Blueside
Real Estate, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri.
3. "Leather Tannery Waste Management through Process Change,
Reuse and Pretreatment" Pfister and Vogel Tanning Co., Inc.,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The above projects are described below:
The project at S. B. Foot Tanning Company will provide a full-scale
demonstration and investigation of primary sedimentation, biological
secondary treatment utilizing aerated secondary lagoons operated in
various physical arrangements, and primary and secondary sludge dewatering
and disposal by means of pressure filtration and land application. The
system will treat the total waste flow of 7.9 mid (2.1 mgd) from the
side leather tannery. In addition, an evaluation will be conducted to
determine the influence of final treatment plant effluent reuse on hide
processing and quality of the finished product by reusing it in the
beamhouse operations. The final report is in preparation.
The basic objectives of the project at Blueside Real Estate, Inc. are to
translate pilot-plant results into the development and demonstration on
a plant scale of a process for removing sulfide from the effluent of a
chrome tannery and recovering the sulfide in a form reuseable in the
30
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tannery. The project will demonstrate the technical feasibility of the
sulfide removal method and will determine the economics of the process
on a full-scale plant.
The project with Pfister and Vogel Tanning Co., Inc. will demonstrate
that it is technically and economically feasible to achieve major
reductions in the pollution load discharge from a large side leather
tannery through process changes, reuse and recovery techniques, and
pretreatment methods. Conventional batch type tanning operations will
be replaced by newly developed hide processing machines in which the
hide is not removed from the unit until the tanning step has been
completed. This process change will permit a waste volume reduction of
approximately 50 percent. Additional major waste reductions will result
from the recovery of processing chemicals and the reuse and pretreatment
of individual waste streams. Recovery of soluble proteins extracted
from the hides will be investigated. Adequate sampling will be performed
to achieve parameter weight balances throughout multiple process cycles
to characterize the tannery effluents. The final report is in preparation.
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SECTION VII
FUTURE AREAS OF CONCERN
Areas of concern for future research in pollution control in the tanning
industry center mainly on in-plant changes to eliminate certain constituents
from the waste stream. Controlling the waste discharge at its source is
considered the most efficient means of reducing pollution with the added
benefit that is gained due to substantial savings on operating costs.
The leather tanning industry is one that offers many opportunities for
reuse of wastewater from its different processes. In some cases such as
chromium, there are no practical reserves of the ore in the U.S. (22),
therefore, efforts should be made toward conserving it to insure an
adequate supply.
Research and development efforts on reducing the wastewater load from
beamhouse operations have received considerable attention (6, 11, 12,
13, 14, 15, 16). These include transferring beamhouse and part of the
tanning operations to the hide processor, catalytic sulfide oxidation,
recycle of and alternatives to lime-sulfide unhairing liquors, recovery
of protein from unhairing effluents, alternatives to salt curing, and
segregation of certain waste streams. The promising small-scale develop-
ment (12) in the recycle of lime-sulfide unhairing effluents is a step
toward meeting the goals of no discharge of pollutants by eliminating
this waste stream altogether. The information obtained in this development
work should lead to adoption of this process in full-scale application.
Other areas in which process change, reuse, or recovery might have
application to the lime-sulfide unhairing liquors are in the reduction
of the amount of lime used, alternatives to lime unhairing, and unhairing
in the first soak liquor- Lime use on the order of 1 percent is reported
(15) to have no effect on unhairing efficiency. This level would reduce
the undissolved lime in the effluent and alleviate a portion of the
sludge handling problem that tanners in urban areas face.
32
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Due to the importance of product differentiation in the tanning industry,
not all process changes available for the industry would be applicable
to an individual tannery. By providing several viable alternatives, the
tanner would have means to reduce his waste load and still produce a
leather with the quality and characteristics desired.
Investigations (8, 10, 11, 15) into methods of reducing the effect of
the tanhouse on the waste load have provided the preliminary studies
necessary for full-scale application in a commercial tannery. Most
notable are two processes already being applied that make use of no
effluent tannages. These are the Liritan process developed in South
Africa for vegetable tanning (15) and the other, not believed to be
practiced in the U.S., is the direct reuse of the spent chrome liquor as
the make-up for the pickle acid and then replenishing it for use in the
chrome tanning process. As mentioned in Section V, this method has been
successfully tried on a commercial scale in Australia (10). Adoption of
this process would eliminate the pickling and tanning processes from the
waste stream during normal tanning operations. Besides reducing the
wastewater flow, no longer would there be a need for chemical pretreatment
to remove chromium.
With the increasing use of synthetic tanning, there is potential for
introducing new toxins to the waste stream. One report (5) has shown
agents originating in synthetic tannins to be toxic to test organisms on
the order of 3 mg/1, therefore, before adoption of any new synthetic
tanning agent its effect on biological treatment and the biota of the
receiving stream should be assessed.
Tannery effluent treatment investigations (3, 5, 17, 19, 20, 21) provide
the background information into the effectiveness of the various systems
applicable to the industry. None report discharge levels that are
capable of meeting established effluent limitations on a consistent year
33
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round basis, and as reported in the Development Document for Effluent
Limitations Guidelines... (1) there are no existing tannery treatment
systems in the U.S. that are able to consistently meet the 1977 discharge
limitations. Reports (3, 23) indicate that the carrousel oxidation
ditch system is very effective in providing treatment and could produce
an effluent meeting these limits in the leather tanning industry.
European tanneries using this system are achieving consistently low
strength effluents, 10-10 mg/1 BODg and SS, operating in northern climates.
This system is also effective in producing a significant TKN reduction.
In regard to the effluent limitations, there is much concern in the
tanning industry (24) over the proposed pretreatment standards and the
associated methods and problems of sludge handling resulting from
pretreatment. Further development into recycling of process streams
should be pursued to reduce the sludge problem and relieve the load on
secondary wastewater treatment systems. One parameter of major concern
for 1983 is the TKN limit, and it is believed that this is one area of
needed future effort.
Based on forecasts of trends in the industry, the importance of category
4 (Finishing of Tanned Hides) and 6 (Chrome Tanning and No Finishing)
will be increased due to the movement of the beamhouse and tanhouse to a
separate location and selling the tanned hides in the blue stage to the
finisher. Long range forecasts might see the inclusion of the blue-
stage tanner next to the slaughter house operations in order to eliminate
the necessity of salt preservation of the hides thus reducing transporta-
tion and waste treatment costs.
34
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SECTON VIII
REFERENCES
1. Development Document for Effluent Limitations Guidelines and New
Source Performance Standards for the Leather Tanning and Finishing
Point Source Category. Office of Air and Water Programs, Environ-
mental Protection Agency. EPA-440/1-74-016-a, March 1974.
2. Leather Tanning and Finishing Point Source Category. Effluent
Limitation Guidelines. Federal Register, Vol. 39, No. 69, 9 April
1974.
3.. van Vlimmeren, P. J., and A. J. J. van Meer. Recent Investigations
into the Disposal of Tannery Waste Water. Institute Voor Leder En
Schoenen TNO. nr. 187/74L.
4. Bailey, David A. Tannery Effluents and Their Treatment. Effluent
and Water Treatment Journal. May and June 1970.
5. Ludvik, Jaromin, A. Orlita, S. Siska, K. Jansky, and J. Bohm.
Water Quality Aspects of Tannery Effluents Disposal. Journal of
the American Leather Chemists Association. Volume 68, No. 7, 1973.
6. Poats, Frederick J., and J. Naghski. Alternatives for Reducing
Water Pollution in Cattlehide Processing and Tanning. U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, MTS-191, November 1973.
7. IULCS Tannery Wastes Commission - Minutes of the Fifth Meeting of
the Commission in Barcelona, 2nd-5th May 1973. Journal of the
Society of Leather Technologists and Chemists. Vol. 58, Jan-Feb.
1974.
35
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8. Hauck, Raymond A. Report on Methods of Chromium Recovery and Reuse
from Spent Chrome Tan Liquor. Journal of the American Leather
Chemists Association. Vol. 67, No. 10, 1972.
9. van Meer, A. J. J. Trivalent Chromium in Tannery Effluents.
Institute Voor Leder En Schoenen TNO, Waalwijk. September 1973.
10. Davis, M. H., and J. G. Scroggie. Investigation of Commerical
Chrome-Tanning Systems, Part I-Part V. Journal of the Society of
Leather Technologists and Chemists. Vol. 57, 1973.
11. Satyendra, Mohan De. Some Aspects of Tannery Effluent Control.
Journal of the American Leather Chemists Association. Vol. 68, No.
8, 1973.
12. Money, C. A., and U. Adminis. Recycling of Lime-Sulphide Unhairing
Liquors - I. Small Scale Trials. Journal of the Society of
Leather Technologists and Chemists. Vol. 58, 1974.
13. Happich, W. F., M. L. Happich, J. E. Cooper, S. H. Feairheller, M.
M. Taylor, D. 6. Baily, H. W. Jones, E. F. Mellon, and J. Naghski.
Recovery of Proteins from Lime-Sulfide Effluents from Unhairing
Cattlehides. Journal of the American Leather Chemists Association.
Vol. 69, No. 2, 1974.
14. Heidemann, E., 0. Harenberg, and J. Cosp. A Very Rapid Liming and
Tanning Process Without Effluent. Journal of the American Leather
Chemists Association. Vol., 69, No. 12, 1973.
15. Williams-Wynn, D. A. No-Effluent Tannery Processes. Journal of the
American Leather Chemists Association. Vol. 68, No. 1, 1973.
36
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16. van Meer, A. J. J. Some Aspects of a Chemical Treatment of the
Waste Waters from the Beamhouse. Journal of the American Leather
Chemists Association. Vol. 68, No. 8, 1973.
17. Young, Harland H. Effluent Treatment for a Small Tannery. Journal
of the American Leather Chemists Association. Vol. 68, No. 8,
1973.
18. Cooper, J. E., W. F- Happich, E. H. Bitcover, E. F. Mellon, and E.
M. Filachione. Effect of Flocculants on the Sedimentation of
Organic Solids in Tannery Unhairing Effluents. Proceedings, 29th
Annual Purdue Industrial Waste Conference, 8 May 1974, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, Ind.
19. Kinman, R. N. Treatment of Tannery Waste Water from Bona Allen.
Inc., Buford, Georgia. Journal of the American Leather Chemists
Association. Vol. 68, No. 9, 1973.
20. Bailey, D. A., M. K. Leafe, K. S. Robinson and Stella Collins. The
Role of High Rate Bio-filters in the Leather Industry. Journal of
the Society of Leather Treades1 Chemists. Vol. 56, p. 200.
21. Huber, Carl V., and Gordon E. Jones. Combined Treatment of Leather
Tannery and Municipal Wastes at Grand Haven, Michigan. Proceedings,
29th Annual Purdue Industrial Waste Conference, 9 May 1974, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, Ind.
22. Holliday, R. W. Mineral Facts and Problems. U. S. Department of
Interior Bureau of Mines, 1965 Edition.
23. Communication with W. L. Banks and Donald F. Anderson, EPA; and Dr.
Robert M. Lollar, Tanners' Council of America, Inc.
37
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24. Communication with Dr. Robert M. Lollar and Eugene L. Kilik,
respectively, Technical Director and Executive Vice-President,
Tanners' Council of America, Inc.
38
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TECHNICAL REPORT DATA
(Please read Instructions on the reverse before completing)
1. REPORT NO.
EPA-600/2-76-230
2.
3. RECIPIENT'S ACCESSIOWNO.
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
LEATHER TANNING AND FINISHING WASTE MANAGEMENT
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
5. REPORT DATE
September 1976
(Issuing Date)
6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION CODE
7. AUTHOR(S)
James F. Scaief
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NO.
9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS
Food & Wood Products Branch, lERL-Cincinnati
Corvallis Field Station
200 SW 35th Street
Corvallis, Oregon 97330
10. PROGRAM ELEMENT NO.
1BB610
11. CONTRACT/GRANT NO.
12. SPONSORING AGENCY NAME AND ADDRESS
Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory - Cin., OH
Office of Research and Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
13. TYPE OF REPORT AND PERIOD COVERED
Final
14. SPONSORING AGENCY CODE
EPA/600/12
15. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
16. ABSTRACT
Reviewed herein is the waste management research and development program
for the leather tanning and finishing industry. Emphasis is placed on the
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) role, both past and present, and
major developments over the past few years outside EPA, including international
developments. Future waste management needs for the industry are defined
and U. S. organizations involved in the field are presented with a brief de-
scription of their objectives.
17.
KEY WORDS AND DOCUMENT ANALYSIS
DESCRIPTORS
b.lDENTIFIERS/OPEN ENDED TERMS
c. COSATI Field/Group
Leather, Tanning Materials, Waste
Treatment, Reviews, Research
Management, Waste Water.
Literature Review,
Discharge Limitations
13B
18. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT
Unlimited; Available from EPA-Corvallis
(see 9) and GPO
19. SECURITY CLASS (ThisReport)
UNCLASSIFIED
21. NO. OF PAGES
45
20. SECURITY CLASS (Thispage)
UNCLASSIFIED
22. PRICE
EPA Form 2220-1 (9-73)
39
£U.l GOVERNMENT PBINTWGOmCE: 1977-757-056/5478
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