Tannery wastewater treatment

The sustainable combination of sludge digestion and anaerobic wastewater treatment not only reduces the amount of solid waste in tannery wastewater, but also produces profitable biogas. The digestion stage can be extended to treat other tannery waste products such as fleshings and trimmings.

Tannery wastewater also contains elevated levels of sulfate and chlorides. Paques offers biological anaerobic systems that effectively treat tannery wastewater high in sulfate. After reducing sulfate to sulfide, the biological sulfide oxidation process efficiently removes the sulfide from either wastewater or gas by converting it into biosulfur. The result is a sulfide-free effluent low in sulfate, without the need for sulfide precipitation using iron-based chemicals.

Read more about sulfate removal

Depending on final discharge limits, you can apply ANAMMOX® or [aerobic post-treatment](Aerobic treatment / Aerobic COD removal) of tannery effluent for nitrogen removal.

Read more about sulfate removal

ECCO Leather B.V. is part of the Denmark based global footwear company ECCO Sko A/S. In November 2010, ECCO signed a contract with Waterstromen BV for a new anaerobic plant for their tannery wastewater in Dongen, the Netherlands.

Paques designed and built this tannery wastewater treatment plant for Waterstromen. It was commissioned in the second half of 2011.

The Hulshof Royal Dutch Tanneries was founded in 1876 and is known today as Vitelco Leather. Vitelco Leather is one of the largest European producers of high quality upholstery leather, processing many thousands of hides every week for the furniture and aviation industry. The leather is both produced and specially finished at the Royal Dutch Tannery.

Motivated by the wish to reduce the amount of solid waste produced and increasing demands for the removal of sulfate, chloride and nitrogen, Hulshof outsourced their tannery wastewater treatment to Waterstromen BV in 2001. Paques constructed a new plant for Waterstromen two kilometers outside the town of Lichtenvoorde where the tannery is located.

The new tannery wastewater treatment plant consists of anaerobic treatment of sludge and wastewater combined with biological sulfide oxidation and the Paques’ process for nitrogen removal. With Paques’ biological wastewater treatment processes, COD, sulfate, sulfide, chromium and nitrogen are all reduced to low levels. The amount of solid waste was significantly reduced compared to the earlier physical and chemical treatment. Waterstromen uses the biogas generated in tannery wastewater treatment to produce electricity.

Read more about biogas desulfurization