ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Synthesis of chrome-tanning agents from chromate wastewater

Hongda Fang, Min Zhou, Xinru Li, Yidong Mi, Hailei Su, Xuesong Liu, Fanfan Wang, Haiyan Chen, and Yuan Wei

School of Port and Coastal Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen, China

E-mail: suhailei666@163.com

Received: 8 October 2021  Accepted: 28 December 2021

Abstract:

Chromium wastewater is one type of wastewater with high toxicity. Currently, the treatment of this wastewater along with resource recovery gains wide attention. In this study, the synthesis of chrome-tanning agent from chromate wastewater was investigated in both laboratory and pilot-scale studies. Hexavalent chromium was reduced to basic trivalent chromium sulfate using glucose as a reducing agent. The factors affecting the reduction of hexavalent chromium, such as sulfuric acid dosage, glucose dosage, pH, reaction time, and reaction temperature, were investigated. The results showed that 0.3 g of glucose and 2.0 mL of sulfuric acid (volume ratio = 1:1) were efficient in treating 100 mL of raw materials when the mass proportion of impurities was below 13%. In addition, the optimal molar ratio of raw materials and reactants was identified as n(H₂SO₄)/n(Na₂Cr₂O₇)/n(C₆H₁₂O₆) of 3:1:0.35. Under the optimum condition, the percentage of Cr₂O₃ and alkalinity in the generated chrome-tanning agent met the standard I grade for industrial usage. A pilot-scale experiment was conducted subsequently, which exhibited outstanding performance as the lab-scale results.

Keywords: Chromium wastewater; Chrome-tanning agent; Electroplating industrial park; Wastewater resource recovery

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-021-02056-1

Chemical Papers 76 (4) 2505–2512 (2022)