Impact of tannery wastes on anaerobic co-digestion: enhancing biogas production and process efficiency

The study investigates the potential of anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) as a sustainable solution for managing putrescible organic waste generated by leather processing. Three experiments were conducted to assess the impact of various tannery wastes, pretreatment methods, and waste combinations on methane production. Experiment 1 demonstrated that co-digesting tannery wastewater primary sludge (TWPS) and fleshings significantly increased methane yield compared to digesting TWPS alone, though the addition of chromium- and vegetable-tanned leather wastes decreased yield. Experiment 2 explored TWPS pretreatment methods and found that ultrasonic pretreatment increased soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) but did not significantly improve methane yield, suggesting that pretreatment may not be necessary. Experiment 3 revealed that increasing the proportion of fleshings to TWPS resulted in higher methane yield, ranging from 226.52 mL/gVS with 6% fleshings to 395.71 mL/gVS and 538.34 mL/gVS with 12% and 20% of fleshings, respectively. Additionally, this increase in fleshings also led to a reduction in digester volume. These findings highlight the importance of AcoD in addressing both environmental and economic challenges in the leather industry. Graphical Abstract