Abstract
The performance of electroplating in the removal of chromium ions from crude tannery wastewater and from a synthetic wastewater solution was investigated. Brazil is a major producer of leather, and such industries generate large environmental impacts. A novel batch reactor setup was developed for tannery wastewater treatment, employing graphite and aluminum as anode and cathode, respectively. Crude wastewater from a tannery was characterized and presented an acidic pH, elevated biochemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand, and a total chromium concentration of 544 mg/L, a value that is one thousand times higher than permitted by local legislation. Electroplating was able to remove 90.0% of chromium content from a synthetic trivalent chromium solution. Moreover, 96.5% of total chromium content was removed when electroplating was applied in untreated tannery wastewater. Additionally, antifoam addition inhibited foam generation during the electroplating process without interfering in chromium removal. The results showed that the electroplating technique is a viable wastewater treatment alternative and/or a complement for tannery industries that use chromium as a tanning agent.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Almeida JC, Cardoso CED, Tavares DS, Freitas R, Trindade T, Vale C, Pereira E (2019) Chromium removal from contaminated waters using nanomaterials—a review. TrAC Trends Anal Chem. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2019.05.005
APHA (2017) Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water, 23rd edn. American Public Health Association, Washington
Atkins P, Paula J (2011) Físico-Química-Fundamentos, 9th edn. LTC, Rio de Janeiro, pp 371–411
Bagotsky VS (2005) Reactions at nonconsumable electrodes. In: Bagotsky VS (ed) Fundamentals of electrochemistry, 2nd edn. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 280–288
CICB (2017) Exportações Brasileiras de Couros e Peles – Julho 2017. http://cicb.org.br/storage/files/repositories/phpyktWKA-total-exp-jun17-vr.pdf. Accessed 08 Apr 2018
CONSEMA (2017). Conselho Estadual do Meio Ambiente, resolução N˚ 355, de 13 de julho de 2017, Diário Oficial do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. http://www.sema.rs.gov.br/upload/arquivos/201707/19110149-355-2017-criterios-e-padroes-de-emissao-de-efluentes-liquidos.pdf. Accessed 19 June 2017
Elabbas S, Mandi L, Berrekhis F, Pons MN, Leclerc JP, Ouazzani N (2015) Removal of Cr(III) from chrome tanning wastewater by adsorption using two natural carbonaceous materials: eggshell and powdered marble. J Environ Manag 166:589–595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.11.012
Giovanardi R, Orlando G (2011) Chromium electrodeposition from Cr(III) aqueous solutions. Surf Coat Technol J 205:3947–3955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2011.02.027
Graça NS, Ribeiro AM, Rodrigues AE (2019) Modeling the electrocoagulation process for the treatment of contaminated water. Chem Eng Sci 197:379–385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2018.12.038
GracePavithra K, Jaikumar V, Kumar PS, SundarRajan P (2019) A review on cleaner strategies for chromium industrial wastewater: present research and future perspective. J Clean Prod 228:580–593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.117
Hill C, Eastoe J (2017) Foams: from nature to indusrty. Adv Coll Interface Sci 247:496–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2017.05.013
Jayakrishnan DS (2012) Electrodeposition: the versatile technique for nanomaterials. In: Saji V, Cook R (eds) Corrosion protection and control using nanomaterials, 1st edn. Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, pp 86–125. https://doi.org/10.1533/9780857095800
Kapetas L, Vincent-Bonnieu S, Denelis S, Farajzadeh R, Eftekhari A, Shafian S, Bahrim R (2016) Effect of temperature on foam flow in porous media. J Ind Eng Chem 36:229–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiec.2016.02.001
Karlsson T, Persson P (2012) Complexes with aquatic organic matter suppress hydrolysis and precipitation of Fe(III). Chem Geol 322–323:19–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2012.06.003
Kilic E, Font J, Puig R, Çolak S, Çelik D (2010) Chromium recovery from tannery sludge with saponin and oxidative remediation. J Hazard Mater 185:456–462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.09.054
Lou H, Huang Y (2006) Electroplating. In: Lee S (ed) Encyclopedia of chemical processing, 1st edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 839–848
Mamelkina MA, Tuunila R, Sillänpää M, Häkkinen A (2019) Systematic study on sulfate removal from mining waters by electrocoagulation. Sep Purif Technol 216:43–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2019.01.056
Morera JM, Bacardit A, Ollé L, Bartolí E, Borrás MD (2007) Minimization of the environmental impact of chrome tanning: a new process with high chrome exhaustion. Chemosphere 69:1728–1733. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.05.086
Moussa DT, El-Nass MH, Nasser M, Al-Marri MJ (2016) A comprehensive review of electrocoagulation for water treatment: potentials and challenges. J Environ Manag 186:24–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.10.032
Pantazopoulou E, Zebiliadou O, Mitrakas M, Zouboulis A (2017) Stabilization of tannery sludge by co-treatment with aluminum anodizing sludge and phytotoxicity of end-products. Waste Manag 61:327–336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.01.009
Priebe GPS, Kipper E, Gusmão AL, Marcilio NR, Gutteres M (2016) Anaerobic digestion of chrome-tanned leather waste for biogas production. J Clean Prod 129:410–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.04.038
Rosu L, Varganici C, Crudu A, Rosu D, Bele A (2017) Ecofriendly wet–white leather vs. conventional tanned wet–blue leather. A photochemical approach. J Clean Prod 177:708–720. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.237
Sadyrbaeva TZ (2016) Removal of chromium(VI) from aqueous solutions using a novel hybrid liquid membrane-electrodialysis process. Chem Eng Process 99:183–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2015.07.011
Sahoo P, Das SK, Davim JP (2017) Surface finish coatings. In: Hashmi MSJ (ed) Comprehensive materials finishing, vol 3. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 38–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803581-8.09167-0
Santos FA, Alban L, Frankenberg CLC et al (2016) Characterization and use of biosorbents prepared from forestry waste and their washed extracts to reduce/remove chromium. Int J Environ Sci Technol 13:327–338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-015-0878-y
Schilling K, Zessner M (2011) Foam in the aquatic environment. Water Res 45:4355–4366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2011.06.004
Shahid M, Shamshad S, Rafiq M, Khalid S, Bibi I, Niazi N, Dumat C, Rashid C, Muhammad I (2017) Chromium speciation, bioavailability, uptake, toxicity and detoxification in soil-plant system: a review. Chemosphere 178:513–533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.03.074
Shegani D (2014) Treatment of tannery effluents by the process of coagulation. Int J Environ Ecol Eng 8:240–244
Skundin A, Salkind AJ (2005) Electrochemistry and the Environment. In: Bagotsky VS (ed) Fundamentals of electrochemistry, 2nd edn. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 408–410
Xing Y, Chen X, Yao P, Wang D (2009) Continuous electrodeionization for removal and recovery of Cr(VI) from wastewater. Sep Purif Technol 67:123–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2009.03.029
Yu D (2008) Chromium toxicity, agency for toxic substances and disease registry case. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/chromium/docs/chromium.pdf. Accessed 03 Aug 2018
Zewail TM, Yousef NS (2014) Chromium ions (Cr6+ & Cr3+) removal from synthetic wastewater by electrocoagulation using vertical expanded Fe anode. J Electroanal Chem 735:123–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2014.09.002
Zhou Y, Ma J, Gao D, Jia L, Guo K, Ren H (2018) Modification of collagen with three novel tannages, sulfonated calix[4]arenes. Int J Biol Macromol 116:1004–1010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2018.04.169
Acknowledgements
Gustavo Roth would like to acknowledge the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) for providing financial support through Edital N° 01/2017, Grant Number SIPESQ:8530/2017.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Editorial responsibility: Binbin Huang.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
da Silva, G.S., dos Santos, F.A., Roth, G. et al. Electroplating for chromium removal from tannery wastewater. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 17, 607–614 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02494-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02494-1