Liquor problem solved

The disposal of saline liquors from the processing and conditioning of hides has long been a serious problem for the leather industry - but this is no longer the case. Sibus, provide a total solution which effectively and rapidly reprocesses this liquor and converts it into white reusable salt. Gone are the days when such companies faced ever increasing environmental problems of how to satisfactorily deal with these high volumes of liquor. There is no longer the fear of ever increasing disposal costs once the Sibus saline liquor reprocessing system has been adopted. Sibus are known for their innovative drying technologies and they have developed a solution which encompasses their Rapid Air Swept (RAS) Drying Systems. This innovative range of dryers can dry any slurry down to a dry solid in less than one minute. The dryers are of co-flow design, with the hot air introduced along with the wet material, which subjects the material to intense mixing/delumping action so that immediate flash drying is accomplished. Because of the very short dryer retention time the dried material exits at a low temperature with minimal material degradation. In the Sibus research and test facility at their Penrith, UK, base, they have carried out both extensive drying trials on saline liquor and in its pretreatment to ensure the ultimate goal of achieving clean, dry white salt. The Sibus RAS Drying System uses a propane burner for hot air production. However, this flexible drying system can accommodate a range of fuels, reclaimed factory heat, reclaimed gas from a digestion plant or any combination of these. The hot air is diluted with additional cold air to provide the required hot air inlet temperature and volume. Within the dryer is a central shaft which revolves at various speeds depending on the composition and drying characteristics of the liquid or slurry to be dried, but this is usually within the 200-500 rpm range. This, together with the high hot air flow, ensures that the incoming wet material is rapidly and thoroughly dispersed within the hot air stream thus providing immediate flash drying within the inlet zone. Within the central zone a series of adjustable paddles are located plus both wall and shaft mounted dispersion plates which also act as air dampers. Material retention, mixing and additional drying are all achieved in this zone with the final discharge zone ensuring that the dried material is discharged from the dryer in a controlled manner. The dried material is carried in the airflow to the material collection area, which can be a single/multi high efficiency cyclone, a reverse jet filter or a combination of both. The overall system is computer controlled, which monitors and adjusts material flow, airflow and inlet/outlet temperatures. Due to the high heat transfer efficiency and short dwell time, dryer efficiency is extremely high and with low maintenance costs. Also because of the innovative design, this range of dryers is very compact with easy installation. In addition to drying hide saline liquor, Sibus also have a lot of experience in drying all types of DAF sludge, blood, bone meal slurry and meat offals. With particular reference to the treatment of contaminated saline liquor, the process flow diagram on the opposite page outlines the three main stages of the overall Sibus process. * the raw liquor containing 30% salt plus some blood etc is pretreated using a special process to remove the red/brown discoloration thus providing a clear saline liquor * in stage two, this liquor is pre-mixed via a Sibus Turbo Blender with a quantity of dried salt so as to ensure rapid and total dispersion of this mixture within zone 1 of the dryer. * the drying process occurs in less than one minute and the dried salt is divided with part being returned to the continuous Turbo Blender. The remaining part transferred to store or packing plant. Sibus have recently been commissioned to design and build such a plant for a leading Irish hide processing company. By adapting this innovative technology the company can avoid the very expensive disposal costs which they currently incur. For further information contact: Sibus Limited. Email: innovate@sibus.com. The web site is located at: [http://www.sibus.com]