Safe Disposal and Effective Utilization of Solid Wastes from Leather Industry

A. Radhakrishnan, J. Jevik V Rayen, V. Kaviyazhagi, M. Sri Ganesh Kumar

Abstract: Abstract? The leather industries produce large amount of solid organic wastes from raw hides and skins, semi-processed leather, as well as sludge as a result of wastewater treatment. If these solid wastes are not properly treated and disposed of, they can cause environmental damage to soil and groundwater as well as emissions of odour and poisonous greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The chromium plays a vital role in the ground water contamination which is due to the solid waste expelled out from the leather industry. This project is about how to convert those harmful materials into Eco-Friendly materials. Chrome present in the solid waste has toxic nature when it is in the oxidation state of Cr6+. So the project deals how to avoid the formation of Cr6+ in order to destroy the hazardous nature of the product formed from the solid waste by a method called pyrolysis. The observations on generation of no toxic compounds upon pyrolysis, suggests the suitability of this process towards achieving safe disposal of Hazardous leather solid waste and to recover useful products. An attempt to use the generated residual ash as the replacement of cement and sand has been made and tested.

Keywords: Chromium, Pyrolysis, Residual Ash, Blocks.