Recovery of chromium from tannery industry waste water by membrane separation technology: Health and engineering aspects

Wastewater containing heavy metals is serious issue for Environmentalist. High percentages of heavy metal in wastewater effect the surrounding Environment as well as harmful for animal, plant and human health. Tanneries come under oldest process industries and consume huge amount of water in several stages. The wastewater generated from tannery industries having large amount of suspended solid, organic, inorganics and heavy metals. To reuse the tremendous amount of wastewater, membrane separation technology is preferred. The main aim of this research work is to study the effects different parameters on recovery of chromium from tannery industry by using membrane separation. The results indicated reverse osmosis was suitable for recovery at optimum pH 6.6; inlet feed concentration 4200 mg/l, flow rate 0.62 m 3 /h, and working pressure 40 bar for maximum permeated mass flux (g/min/cm 2 ).