Transfer of Organic Substances from Residual Tannery Baths to the Multifunctional Mineral Complex Made of Red Mud

This research highlights the possibility of individual treatment of baths resulting from processes prior to leather tanning for controlled capture of organic substances using mineral complex made by chemical modification of red mud, waste from the production of alumina from bauxite, using the Bayer process. Experiments have demonstrated the capacity of the mineral complex, obtained by chemical modification of red mud, to retain organic substances from wastewater. By treating the residual baths from operations prior to leather tanning with the red mud based mineral complex, chemical oxygen demand of residual baths can be reduced by about 85%. The transfer of organic substances into the mineral complex is simple, effective and reproducible and does not cause particular problems in terms of toxicology and occupational safety.