182 Quality Requirements / Tannery

CHAPTER - 89
TANNERY
Tanning is the process of conversion of animal skins and hides to non-putrescible and
tough material known as leather. The tanning processes are broadly classified as

A) Beam House Processing, and

6 ) Tan Yard Processing

There are two types of tanning, namely 'Vegetable Tanning' and 'Chrome Tanning'. In
vegetable tanning, vegetable tan liquor is used, while chrome tan liquor containing chromium
salts is used in chrome tanning.

A) BEAM HOUSE RPOCESSING

The dry matter of the skin is almost protein, reported to be about 85% collagen. The
skin, also contains lipids, albumin, carbohydrates and globulin in minor amounts. In beam
house processes, all the impurities are removed and collagen of the skin is made ready to
absorb the tannin or chromium. A brief account of the beam house processes are given below.

(i) Soaking: The salted hides and skins are first soaked in water in pits (containing wetting
agents) for oneday. This removes the salts, dirt, blood, dung and non-fibrous proteins and
restores the moisture lost during preservation and storage.

(ii) Liming: After soaking, the hides are washed with running water and again soaked in a pit
containing lime and sodium sulfite (8:l).Liming swells the hideslskins and loosens the
hair. Further, the hides and skins become attractive and more amenable for the removal
of trace protein impurities.

(iii) Deliming: The lime absorbed over the skins and hides are removed in this process by
treatment with either ammonium chloride or sulfate. After deliming, the stock is sent for
tanning.
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B) TAN YARD PROCESS
( 1) VEGETABLE TANNING

This type of tanning produces heavy leathers which are plumper, more easily tooled and
embossed. The following are the sequential operations in vegetable tanning.
Tanning: The delimed skins and hides are soaked in pits containing vegetable tan liquor
(extracts of bark, wood, nut etc., containing natural tannins and also pyrogallol or catechol
base) for 10 to 15 days.

Myrobing: The tanned materials are then soaked in myrobalan liquor.

Oiling: After myrobing, oil is applied liberally on the surfaces with suitable vegetable oil
which makes the leather soft, pliable and resistance to tearing. The process of oiling is
also termed as 'stuffing'.

Drying: The leather is dried and dyed.

CHROME TANNING

It is carried out to prepare light and more resistant leather. It involves more operations
than vegetable tanning, but the duration is much less.

(0 Bating: Bating is the treatment given to the delimed materials with a bating agent (mixture
of prepared proteolytic enzymes) which reduces the pH and swelling, peptizes the fibres
and removes the protein degradation products. Also renders the grain silky & slippery and
smoother and porous.

(ii) Pickling: It is done to prevent precipitation of chromium salts on the skin fibres and
involves pickling in sulfuric acid and common salt for one day.

(iii) Tanning: After pickling, they are tanned by soaking in chrometan liquor containing
chromium sulfate for 6 hours. After tanning, sodium carbonate is added to the drum to fix
the chrome. Then they are taken out of the drum and kept for 24 hours for complete
absorption and fixation of chromium.
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(iv) Dyeing: The tanned leather is then washed, neutralized and dyed with different types of
dyes.

(v) Fat - Liquoring: To the leather is then applied an emulsion of sulfonated oil to make the
leather soft and pliable.

Water is used in almost all the operations described above excepting a few. The
quantity of water used in a tannery is very large and the impurities present in water that are
precipitated by tannin have an important bearing on the success and economy of the tanning
process.

The process water should be low in carbonate hardness, free carbon dioxide, color and
turbidity and should be free from iron and manganese. Waters containing much carbonate
are objectionable even in the preliminary washing of hides as calcium - carbonate tends to
precipitate in the skin; moreover the washing process is also retarded. If water used in
liming the hides contains an appreciable quantity of calcium bicarbonate, it gets precipitated
and deposits in the crevices of dermic tissue. This deposits interfere with the absorption of the
tannin in the cells of the hide and retard the tanning process causing brown stains on the
leather (due to oxidation of tannate of lime). In the tan-pits, the calcium carbonate is
transformed into tannate of lime which oxidizes rapidly in the air and forms secondary products
of tan-oxylic or tan-omelanic acids giving a reddish brown coloration to leather which
decreases its market value.

Magnesium bicarbonate also causes such effects in the tanning pits forming readily
oxidizable tannates. Such precipitates would result in the loss of tannin, and by forming a
coating on the leached material, interfere with the extraction. In view of such effects, it is
preferable to use a water containing a carbonate hardness below 50 mgll (as CaC03) for
liming, deliming and bating.

Water rich in sodium and potassium carbonates are also reported to precipitate lime in
the hides during liming process. Hence waters containing a total alkalinity not more than
150mgA (as CaC03) is best suited for tanning purposes (especially for liming).

For leaching tannin extract, dyeing with basic dyes, and fat liquoring and for vegetable
tanning, water of zero hardness is the best choice. However in the absence of such waters, the
 Quality Requirements / Tannery 185
total hardness should not exceed 30 mgll. Hardness has no apparent effects in chrome tanning
and does not waste dyestuffs in acid baths. Hardness up to 300 mgll is permissible for chrome
tanning.

Water containing sulfates of calcium and magnesium are not harmful. Infact,
sometimes they are added to water when they are deficient. Though chlorides are not harmful,
their concentration is limited to 500 mgll for both vegetable and chrome tanning as high
amounts of chlorides tend to repress swelling of hides in tan liquors.

For tanning purposes, the water must be quite free from iron as it affects tanning. It
forms dark colored precipitates with tannin, ranging from black to dark blue and green
depending on the origin of the tannin. Such precipitates cause reduced tanning efficiency and
results in discolored leather. Water containing not more than 0.1 mgll iron (as Fe) is preferable
for tanning. Manganese also acts in the same way and its presence is also objectionable.
Manganese alone (as Mn) or in combination with iron should not exceed the concentration of
0.1 mgll.

The desirable pH range of water for tannery uses is 6.5 - 8.0.

Waters contaminated with organic matter and bacteria are especially harmful in the
soaking of hides as putrefaction is likely to set in and destroy the tissue of the hide. Water
used for tanning when tested should not show a standard plate count more than 100 Iml.