Chromium recovery from tannery sludge and its ash, based on hydrometallurgical methods

The recovery of chromium from tannery sludge and from its respective ash constitutes an alternative process of tannery sludge treatment in order to ensure safe disposal. Chromium recovery was investigated based on simple hydrometallurgical processes, that is, leaching using aqueous solutions of acids. Leaching was applied either directly to air-dried sludge or to its respective ash, which results from thermal treatment of the air-dried sludge under anoxic conditions. The major parameters that influence the effectiveness of the leaching process were investigated to optimize chromium leaching. Specifically, contact time, pH value, temperature, liquid per solid ratio, and leaching agent (H₂SO₄ or HCl) were tested. Leached chromium, obtained directly from the initial tannery waste after 100 min leaching with H₂SO₄ at pH 1 and at 60°C, was used for the trivalent chromium precipitation by adding magnesia, calcium hydroxide, and sodium hydroxide as precipitation agents. The results revealed satisfactory leaching of trivalent chromium directly from the air-dried sludge. The chromium content in the solid precipitated using sodium hydroxide was about 59 wt %. In contrast, chromium was difficult to leach from the respective ash.