Horn meal hydrolysate–chromium complex as a high exhaust chrome tanning agent––pilot scale studies

Acid hydrolysis of horn meal (obtained from raw horns of slaughtered cattle and buffaloes) yields a mixture of water soluble and low molecular weight peptides with average particle size of 3,838 nm (3.84 μm) and mean intensity of 5,243.7 nm (5.24 μm) and mean volume of 6,228.1 nm (6.23 μm). These peptides on reaction with Cr(III) yield a product that exhibits high exhaustion of chromium bath (above 92%) during tanning of hides and skins. To consolidate the results, the process was up-scaled in Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) pilot plant for commercial trials. This material is applied directly to the pickled pelts at 8% w/w level and then the pelt is converted to wet blues and crust leathers. Control leathers were also processed concurrently using standard chrome tanning salts (8% w/w). Leathers showed the desired level of softness, fullness, shrinkage temperature and physical properties, and are comparable with control ones. Our results have indicated the use of Cr(III)–keratin complex could considerably reduce pollution load of Cr salts in leather processing.     

Integrated hair removal and fiber opening process using mixed enzymes

The use of enzyme-based products for many areas in leather making has been projected and some have found their way in commercial practices. Proteolytic and α-amylase enzymes are used in hair removal and fiber opening, respectively, producing comparable results to conventional practice of lime and sulfide-based dehairing and fiber opening. However, this process is a two-step sequence in which dehairing is performed by the proteolytic enzyme followed by fiber opening through α-amylase. In this study, an attempt has been made to achieve a single-step dehairing and fiber opening using mixed enzymes. A commercial product containing a mixture of α-amylase and protease is used for simultaneous dehairing and fiber opening of goatskins. Standardized experiments show that the leathers obtained were comparable to that of the conventionally produced leathers in terms of all the physical and bulk properties. The input–output analysis validates the observations made for dehairing and fiber opening in the preliminary trials, which are also confirmed through scanning electron micrographs. Reductions in water consumption, wastewater discharge, COD and TS loads are in the order of 30% when compared to conventional leather processing. There seems to be a significant reduction in the expenditure incurred on the leather processing upon introducing the integrated enzymatic beamhouse process.

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Case study on energy audit in HPCL,Mazgaon Dock Ltd,Mumbai

ABSTRACT

The paper comprises Energy Audit of Mechanical Equipment in HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited), Mazgaon Dock, Mumbai. It represents the energy audit of counter-flow-type-induced draft cooling tower and other mechanical equipment. The technical data have been taken from Paharpur cooling tower (series 3800) HPCL, Mazgaon. Lube Plant 1 Cooling towers are generally heat-removal devices for industrial processes as well as for for chemical plants. The present review is aimed at study and research on the cooling tower for increasing the efficiency and power savings to make it more economical and efficient. Using boiler of high efficiency helps in reducing the cost which is an important factor in industries and to reduce the emissions. The direct efficiency method can be used but it does not focus on energy losses so the standard methods are used. But the modified Siegert’s equation is a very common equation for finding out the boiler efficiency.     

Design and development of smart electricity meter – the path towards sustainable globe

Reducing energy demand in the domestic segment is an important problem worldwide. This study focused on the awareness of residents on energy conservation and on the potential of reducing energy demand through energy-saving activities. The following observations were noted down during the experiment of smart meter in 10 houses of Mumbai city. (1) Its installation led to a reduction in power consumption, (2) a change in energy-saving behaviours of the household members such as the reduction of standby power and a better control of appliance operation, and (3) energy-conservation awareness affected not only the power consumption of the appliances explicitly shown on the display monitor but also other household appliances. (4) Development of sustainable environmental system.     

Pickle-free chrome tanning using a polymeric synthetic tanning agent for cleaner leather processing

Stringent environmental regulations on the discharge of pollutants from various industries have prompted researchers to seek the development of eco-benign technologies. Conventional chrome tanning in leather processing discharges significant amounts of chromium, total dissolved solids and chlorides. Hence, tanners are looking for new product-process innovations towards low-waste and high exhaust chrome tanning. A polymeric syntan, which can enable pickle-free chrome tanning using commercial basic chromium sulphate, has been developed. A convenient process for tanning goatskins as well as cow hides has been designed. This method enhances the uptake of chromium to above 90%. Although the developed process is a highly reactive system, the tanned leathers are free from physical deposition of chromium as seen from microscopic analysis. The distribution of chromium in thicker cow sides is uniform and comparable to that of conventional tanned leathers even at reduced dosage. Further, the novel product-process helps to reduce the chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS) and chlorides in the spent tan liquor by 50, 80 and 98% respectively. The product offers full, soft leathers having a shrinkage temperature comparable to that of conventional chrome tanned leathers. This integrated process provides reduction in chemicals, water, time and power consumption. Thus the novel product/process developed not only seeks advantages in reducing pollution loads but also seems to be techno-economically viable.     

Extraction,detection, and profiling of serum biomarkers using designed Fe<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript>@SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>@HA core–shell particles

Serum biomarkers in the form of proteins (e.g. cluster of differentiation-44 (CD44)) have been demonstrated to have high clinical sensitivity and specificity for disease diagnosis and prognosis. Owing to the high sample complexity and low molecular abundance in serum, the detection and profiling of biomarkers rely on efficient extraction by materials and devices, mostly using immunoassays via antibody-antigen recognition. Antibody-free approaches are promising and need to be developed for real-case applications in serum to address the limitations of antibody-based techniques in terms of robustness, expense, and throughput. In this work, we demonstrated a novel approach using hyaluronic acid (HA)-modified materials/devices for the extraction, detection, and profiling of serum biomarkers via ligand-protein interactions. We constructed Fe₃O₄@SiO₂@HA particles with different sizes through layer-by-layer assembly and for the first time applied HA-functionalized particles in the facile extraction and sequence identification of CD44 in serum by mass spectrometry. We also first validated HA-CD44 binding through electrochemical sensing using HA-modified electrodes in both standard solutions and diluted serum samples, achieving a detection limit of ～0.6 ng/mL and a linear response range from 1 ng/mL to 10 μg/mL. Furthermore, we performed profiling of HA-binding serum proteome, providing a new preliminary benchmark for the construction of future databases, and we investigated selected surface chemistries of particles for the capture of proteins in serum. Our work not only resulted in the development of a platform technology for CD44 extraction/detection and HA-binding proteome identification, but also guided the design of ligand affinity-based approaches for antibody-free analysis of serum biomarkers towards diagnostic applications.

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Alkaline protease from Bacillus cereus VITSN04: Potential application as a dehairing agent

The objective of this work is to use protease enzyme as an ecofriendly alternative to chemicals in dehairing. An alkaline protease producing bacterium was isolated from protein-rich soil sample. The bacterium was identified as Bacillus cereus VITSN04 by 16S rRNA gene sequencing method. Growth characteristics and protease activity were studied in yeast, malt, beef, nutrient broth and soybean casein digest media and the enzyme secretion was found to correspond with growth. Maximum protease production was obtained in soybean casein digest medium at 16h with the activity of 200.1±0.68U/ml and a correlation coefficient of 0.965 between growth and enzyme production. The crude enzyme was found to have maximum activity at 30°C and pH 8.0. The protease was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, Sephadex G-50 and G-100 gel filtration chromatography. The purified protease was homogeneous on non-denaturing PAGE and its molecular weight was estimated to be 32kDa. The purified protease was of the serine type as it was inhibited by phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride. The crude enzyme preparation was found to be effective in dehairing goat skins in leather processing.