Energy Assessment of a Tannery to Improve Its Sustainability

The tanning industry is one of the highly polluting sectors, and it is only in the last few years that studies on the energy improvement of tanneries started to proliferate in the literature. Even though the energy cost of a tannery is only a small fraction of the total cost, many tanners became aware of the importance of improving energy efficiency and reducing the environmental footprint to keep the business afloat and be more competitive in the market. This paper presents a study on increasing the sustainability of a tannery located in the region of Catalonia, Spain. Several measures to increase its energy efficiency and reduce its primary energy consumption were proposed and analysed including, among others, the implementation of solar thermal collectors and photovoltaic panels. A cost analysis of the most promising solutions was carried out and discussed. The results show that the tannery should invest between EUR 2 to 2.5 M to obtain the highest energy savings, with an estimated payback period between 5 and 7 years. However, acceptable energy savings can be obtained with a lower investment cost of between EUR 1 to 1.5 M, with a shorter payback period of between 2 and 4 years.