Abstract

The cleaner production of leather has attracted the world’s attention, in that much effort has been made in many aspects such as substitution of chemical materials, recycling of waste water, process or equipment modification etc. In light of the structure and characteristics of the usual suspended drum the electrochemically assisted drum used here was prepared by introducing electrodes on both sides of the drum. Taking the NaCl from the rawhide as a supporting electrolyte, ClO- was used simultaneously as a source of oxidants in the electrochemical treatment. Based on cow hair oxidation experiments the electrochemical parameters were referenced and used for treating the liquid baths in the beamhouse. Comparing the COD, TKN and S2- contents in liquid baths both with and without electrochemical treatment the results show that values for all of the parameters were decreased significantly. The water usage and NaCl concentration met the needs of the emission abatement aims. Performed in the same way as common beamhouse processing, this experiment had other cleaner functions – low sulphur, reduced lime and hair-saving. The pH, temperature and rotation speed of drum of the floats liquid baths have been examined.