Abstract

A mobile chiller suitable for salt-free preservation and storage of 2 tons of raw hides and skins has been designed and fabricated. Experiments conducted with the mobile chiller to preserve hides indicates that it is possible to chill the hides to 4°C in less than 1 hour. Studies on degradation of hides during thawing show that the safe duration of transportation of the chilled hides in insulated containers might be about 15 hours. The results also confirm that a considerable reduction in TDS (total dissolved solids) and chloride pollution loads can be achieved, without any adverse effect on the final quality of the leathers, by the adoption of the chilling method in place of conventional salt curing.