Comprehensive analysis of minimizing carbon footprint in Leather drying with theory and practice: A sustainable approach

Drying of porous materials like leather is an important energy intensive unit operation, which is carried out at four main stages, viz., alternate curing for preservation, after tanning, subsequent to wet-finishing operation and finish film drying. Herein, principles of modern methods and process intensification for leather drying have been analyzed. Towards reducing greenhouse gases emission and UN's-SDG's, influence of method of leather drying on carbon footprint has been investigated for the first time. Earlier publication on CO2 emission (kg/kgwater) on drying of agriculture product with conditions relevant to leather drying has been considered. Calculation of total CO2 emission (kg per kg of Skin/Hide/Leather processed) in leather drying, from target moisture contents (Total kg of water per kg of leather) of present study for various stages was performed. Different types of drying methods, steam type for two kinds of energy plants: Natural gas (NG) and Heavy oil (HO) were considered. The results show that best performances in terms of lowest contribution to CO2 Emission (kg/kgwater in leather drying) – [11.3 Natural Gas(NG); 18.4 Heavy Oil (HO)] – with curing] and [8.2 (NG); 13.4 (HO) - without curing] for Microwave drying (810 W) and could provide 89% reduction in carbon footprint in leather drying.