Protein Precipitation

Protein Precipitation

FilterFilter

SettleSettle Chrome Precipitate

Chrome Precipitate

FilterFilter

Stand Overnight

Stand Overnight

Dissolution Of SludgeDissolution Of Sludge

Tanning ProcessTanning Process

WashWash

Purified Chromium

Purified Chromium

Gelatin

Hydrolysate

Chrome Oxide

Chrome Oxide

ProblemLeather tanneries in Paraguay are dumping their chemical waste, including Chromium, into the environment. These toxins seep into the ground and into the aquifers from which people obtain their drinking water. The environment is also impacted by this tannery waste as the chemicals runoff into the rivers and streams affecting all life sustained by these bodies of water.

Methods○ Obtain a government subsidy to

employ a cheap method of measuring Chromium concentration in the sludge produced from leather tanneries.

○ Produce two materials from the tannery waste that could be used to invoke the government to invest in this research.

SolutionUse enzymatic digestion to purify chrome cake filtered from leather wastewater and sludge to make tanning salts that can be reused. The process yields a hydrolysate and gelatin. The hydrolysate can be used to make pills for medication. The gelatin could be chemically modified for the preparation of leather finishing agents, a highly value-added product. These two materials can create an industry which would benefit the Paraguayan economy.

Hydrolysate

Alternative Uses for Leather Tannery Waste in ParaguayTeam Members: Josue Canales (ChE), Nick Cunha (AE),

Eli Frank (ME), Robert Hayes (AE), James Rios (CE) Advisors: Professor Svetlana Nikitina, Hannah Sattler, Martin Burt (Fundación Paraguaya)

Pollution in lakes due to extreme chemical waste

Selected BibliographyKolomaznik, K et al. Experience In Industrial Practice Of Enzymatic Dechromation Of Chrome Shavings. 1st ed. Columbia: The Journal of the

American Leather Chemists Association, 2000. Print

Cabeza, L et al. Isolation Of Protein Products From Chromium-Containing Leather Waste Using Two Consecutive Enzymes And Purification

Of Final Chromium Product: Pilot Plant Studies. 1st ed. 1998. Print.

Tomascastelazo(Photographer). (2011, May 28) Pile of leather[Digital Image]. Retrieved from

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Leather.jpg

Changdao Mu, Wei Lin, Mingrang Zhang, and Qingshi Zhu. “Towards Zero Discharge of Chromium-containing Leather Waste through Improved Alkali

Hydrolysis.” N.p.: Pergamon, 18 Feb. 2003. PDF.

Recycling and

Repurposing Chromium

Process

Goals/Objectives○Develop a procedure to recycle Chromium from leather tannery waste into the

next tanning cycle using a method that is economically feasible by providing a possible source of marketed goods to benefit the government and economy of Paraguay.

○Understand the effects leather tannery waste has on the environment and public health and why a solution is imperative.

○Propose a plan to the Fundación Parque Tecnológico Itaipu to fund our research on chromium recycling.

b

U.S. value of chromium from scrap

between 2005 and 2013(in million U.S. dollars)

Levels of Chromic Oxide Recovered From Recycling

Process (%/ ton)Chrome SludgeChrome

CakePurified

Chromium

Gelatin

AcknowledgementsFundación Paraguaya for information and ideas. Mr. Martin Burt for inspiration. Laura Hanlan for research assistance. Professor Svetlana Nikitina and Hannah Sattler for advice and guidance.