Athina Stewart [1604349]

Wastewater Treatment [CHE4018]

Lecturer: Dr. L. Bramwell

Treatment of Chrome Tannery Wastewater by Biological Process – A Mini Review

The tannery (leather making) industry is nicknamed the “water polluting industry”.

The wastewater produced by the process greatly degrades the environment and as such,

regulations surrounding permissible effluent emissions are strict so as to reduce negative

environmental impact. According to Goswami and Mazumder in “Treatment of Chrome

Tannery Wastewater by Biological Process – A Mini Review” biological treatment methods

prove ineffective when treating this wastewater directly. Before outlining previous biological

treatment processes and discussing an advanced technology option – hybrid bioreactor,

Goswami and Mazumder describe the tanning process.

The process comprises of four sections – beam house, tanning yard, post-tanning and

finishing operations. The difficulty in treating the wastewater stems from the organic laden

wastewater being contaminated by inorganic species such as chloride, sulphide and

chromium which inhibit microbial growth – necessary for biological treatment. Sources of

wastewater in this process include operations such as soaking, liming, unhairing, fleshing,

deliming, bating, pickling and tanning. The wastewater is treated by first dressing skins for

tanning and soaking in salt to remove impurities and increase moisture content. Here, there

are high amounts of BOD, COD, TS, sulphate/sulphite TKN and NH3-N. Liming and

unhairing then removes the epidermis layer whereafter the tanning agent is added. Deliming

and bating follow to lower the pH and remove the lime previously added. Pickling and

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chrome tanning, the most water polluting step due to the presence of untreated basic chrome,

then follows. Carcinogenic hexavalent chromium and excess organic nitrogen are produced.

The wastewater is also now highly acidic. Low biodegradability and high total dissolved

solids also contribute to the depletion of dissolved oxygen in the water making biological

treatment very difficult. As such, biological treatment is usually employed after primary

treatment to remove the major part of dissolved organics and nutrients.

This paper highlights the different ways that tannery wastewater is treated using

biological methods. Methods currently being used to treat tannery wastewater include

activated sludge processes sequential batch reactor, constructed wetlands, upflow anaerobic

sludge blanket and hybrid bioreactor. Activate sludge process were reported to remove up to

70% of hexavalent chromium but trivalent chromium caused a 50% inhibition when

removing ammonia. No inhibition took place when treating using a sequential batch reactor

and COD and nitrogen removal efficiency were 85-90% and 98% respectively. Additionally,

it was determined that when using constructed wetlands to treat the water that two plant

species were able to grow satisfactorily in tannery wastewater and remove 95% of chromium

and 25-45% of trace metals. Aerobic treatment tends to be more cost-effective but often

struggles to treat high strength wastewater. Anaerobic treatment was able to remove COD by

78% and when coupled with aerobic post-treatment, could achieve 96% removal. Lastly,

hybrid bioreactors were proven capable of treating composite tannery wastewater. In s single

system, carbonaceouos oxidation, nitrification, denitrification and chromium removal are

possible.

The authors collect their data from a wide variety and number of sources including

textbooks and journals. Both authors are experienced in environmental engineering and made

sure to use reputable sources when constructing this paper. It was found that while activated

sludge process tend to be the more cost effective and consistent process when compared with

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anaerobic treatment. Constructed wetlands are a good treatment option if there is sufficient

land space. This paper expounded on the different biological treatment methods used to treat

tannery wastewater, however, it did not do so in comparison to other treatment methods and

as such leaves the question of the efficiency of biological treatment methods as opposed to

others, such as chemical treatment. The authors also do not make a suggestion as to which

treatment method is best suited for treating tannery wastewater – the subject of the paper.