CHAPTER ONE

INDUSTRIAL INFORMATION
1.1 Background and Scope of the Internship Program
An internship consists of an exchange of services for experience between the student and an
organization. Students can also use an internship to determine if they have an interest in a
particular career, create a network of contacts or gain school credit. Some interns find
permanent, paid employment with the organizations for which they worked. This can be a
significant benefit to the employer as experienced interns often need little or no training when
they begin regular employment. Unlike a trainee program, employment at the completion of an
internship is not guaranteed. There is an immense relevance of acquiring practical knowledge
beside the theoretical. The internship program is objected the repertory of knowledge and
wisdom of a student to make him or her capable towards future. The Department of
Environmental Science, Khulna University has included an internship program of two weeks in
the course curriculum to enhance the professional skill and practical knowledge of the students.
Regarding this, Superex Leather Ltd. (SLL) is requested to arrange an internship program for
the selected student of MS second semester of 2017-2018 Sessions. Superex Leather Ltd. replied
positively and agreed accordingly to arrange the program.

1.2 Objectives of the Internship Program

The primary objective of this internship program is to acquire practical knowledge and
professional skill about the functions and activities of an organization. Superex Leather Ltd. is
primarily devoted to the leading of finished leather, crust leather, raw leather & wet blue leather.

1.3 Profile of the Industry

1.3.1 History of the Industry
SUPEREX LEATHER LIMITED is a private limited company, a leading name as 100%
export oriented leather Industry meets to the need of finish leather goods manufacturers and
other end users of finished goods all over the world. It is situated at Uttar Dihi, Phultala, Khulna,
Bangladesh. The prime location of best class RAW LEATHER in Bangladesh, we had been
started in 2016 with the capacity of 80,000 square feet’s per day, due to our quality we have
drawn the attention of world class buyers within short time and as per continuous increasing
demand we enlarge our production capacity up to 130,000 square feet’s per day, mainly we

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supplied to Germany, Italy, USA, Japan, Spain, Belgium, China, India etc. The factory is run by
a team of qualified, well trained and highly experienced professionals to ensure high quality
subject to gain the customer satisfaction as we consider ourselves as "the buyer oriented leather
factory.” In respect of production the factory is one of the largest in Bangladesh producing about
4 Crore square feet’s of leather finish goods annually. The factory is creating jobs to over 3,000
people most of them are from locality both male and female.

1.3.2 Infrastructure of the Industry

Raw Shed/ Cold Storage

Go-down

Production Building

Superex Leather Ltd. 1. Workshop

Laboratory
2. Administrative
Building
3. Bonded
warehouse/
Chemical Store

Guest House
Effluent
Treatment Plant

Fig. 1- Organogram of the Superex Leather industry

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 CHAPTER TWO
DESCRIPTION OF THE OPERATIONS

2.1 Position Title of Internship: Internee Student

2.2 Description of the ETP
Effluent Treatment Plant or ETP is one type of waste water treatment method which is
particularly designed to purify industrial waste water for its reuse and it’s aim is to release safe
water to environment from the harmful effect caused by the effluent.

Industrial effluents contain various materials, depending on the industry. Some effluents contain
oils and grease, and some contain toxic materials (e.g., cyanide). Effluents from food and
beverage factories contain degradable organic pollutants. Since industrial waste water contains a
diversity of impurities and therefore specific treatment technology called ETP is required.

The ETP Plant works at various levels and involves various physical, chemical, biological and
membrane processes to treat waste water from different industrial sectors like chemicals, drugs,
pharmaceutical, refineries, dairy, ready mix plants & textile etc.

Benefits of ETP:
1. To clean industry effluent and recycle it for further use
2. To reduce the usage of fresh water in industries
3. To preserve natural environment against pollution
4. To meet the standards for emission of pollutants set by the Government & avoid heavy penalty
5. To reduce expenditure on water acquisition

Fig. 2- Effluent treatment plant

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2.3 Industrial Effluent Treatment Process

The treatment of different effluents varies with the type of effluent. Wastewater enters the
effluent or sewage treatment plant and goes through several processes before effluent goes into
the environment. Industrial effluent treatment plant process include the following stages:

a. Preliminary Treatment: Its objective is physical separation of large sized contaminants.

For example cloth, paper, plastics, wood logs etc. This level/process include:
 Screening: This is the first unit operation that occurs in waste water treatment plants.
A screen is a device with uniform openings and its purpose is to remove large
floating solids.
 Sedimentation: It is a physical water treatment process using gravity to remove
suspended solids from water.
 Grit Chamber: The wastewater that moves into the grit chamber removes the dense
inorganic solids such as gravel, metal fragments and sand which have made their
way into the sewers. Removal of grit can prevent damaging of pumps & operational
difficulties.
b. Primary Treatment: Its aim is removal of floating and settleable materials such as
suspended solids and organic matter. In this treatment both physical and chemical methods
are used. It includes:
 Flocculation: Flocculation is a physical process and does not involve the
neutralization of charge. It involves the addition of destabilized particles together
into large aggregates so that they can be easily separated from the water.
 Coagulation: is a process in which coagulants are added for the purpose of rapid
settlement of minute solid particles in a liquid into larger mass. It permits particle
removal by sedimentation and for filtration.
 Neutralization: The main purpose of this process helps in maintaining the pH range
of 6-9 to meet the requirements of different processing units in ETP system.
 Primary Clarifiers: These are used to slow the velocity of the water to a point
where organic solids will settle to the bottom of the tank and it contain an equipment
that is used to remove floating solids and greases from the surface.

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c. Secondary or Biological Treatment: The objective of this treatment is the further treatment
of the effluent from primary treatment to remove the suspended solids and residual organics.
In this step biological and chemical processes are involved.

 Activated Sludge Process: This is used for treating industrial waste water using air and
a biological floc composed of bacteria.
 Aerated Lagoons: Is a treatment pond provided with artificial aeration to promote the
biological oxidation of waste water.
 Trickling Filters: Trickling filters, also known as sprinkling filters, are commonly used
for the biological treatment of domestic sewage and industrial waste water.
 Rotating Biological Contactor: It involves allowing the wastewater to come in contact
with a biological medium in order to remove pollutants in the wastewater before
discharge of the treated wastewater to the environment.
d. Tertiary/advanced/disinfection treatment: The purpose of tertiary treatment is to provide
a final treatment stage to raise the effluent quality to the desired level before it is reused,
recycled or discharged to the environment.
 Chemical Coagulation and sedimentation: It is used to increase the removal of
solids from effluent after primary and secondary treatment.
 Filtration: The clarified wastewater is first passed through the adjacent filtration
plant which contains large filter blocks to ensure high quality water.
 Reverse Osmosis: In this process, pressure is used to force effluent through a
membrane that retains contaminants on one side and allows the clean water to pass
to the other side.
 UV Disinfection: It is considered as an ideal disinfectant for industrial waste water.
It leaves no residual disinfectant in the water by ensuring the water quality. It does
not produce any disinfection by-products.

2.4 Responsibilities

As an internee student, I obeyed all of the responsibilities in Superex Leather Limited and I
observed all of the industrial production work actually how to make leather from the animal skin

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and what did they do to make it and what are the industries rules and responsibilities to do that
and I learned many precious things from this industry.

CHAPTER THREE
ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS
3.1 Objectives

 To develop knowledge and achieve more precious information about the tannery industry
 To increase the communication skill with other people
 To gain practical knowledge about leather industry
 To know about the leather processing and their working systems
 To know about the effluent treatment plant

3.2 Methodology

In Superex leather industry, they used effluent treatment plant to treat the wastewater or effluent
from this industry which comes from the leather processing and this ETP is divided into three
processes that are: 1) Liming baths treatment, 2) general effluent treatment plant and 3) chrome
recovery plant.

3.3 Effluent Treatment Plant Process in SLL

Liming Baths Treatment: The effluent discharged by tannery is composed of several streams
with characteristics very different each other. One of the most stream is represented by spent
liming baths that are characterized by:

 Very high organic load

 A high content of ion sulphides
 High alkalinity

Ion sulphides inhibit the activity of the biomass of biological treatment and provoke the emission
of sulphuric acid at low pH, whereas the high alkalinity and the high organic load cancause
sudden shocks to the biological system with a sensible decreasing of the plant efficiencies.

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Therefore, for guaranting good efficiencies to the effluent treatment plant and foe avoiding the
emission of unpleasant and toxic gas, it is necessary as far as possible to treat liming baths
separately and then to join them with the other streams coming from tannery.

The spent liming baths, instead of joining the other streams discharged by tannery, are collected
in a separate concrete channel, filtered through the manual bar filter FT101 and collect ed in the
pumping station A102. The pumps G103 A/B lift liming baths in the floating level switch LS101
(A,B,C,D). The filter is self cleaning type and the retained solids are moved automatically in a
container and then periodically disposed in landfill. The filtered baths flow in the aerated tank
A105, equipped with the air distribution system RD106. This system gurantees the proper
quantity of oxygen to realize the nearly total oxidation of sulphides and the proper mixing grade
for avoiding sedimentation. The system is composed of diffusers assembled on a pipes grid
installed on the bottom of the tank. The oxidation of ion sulphides is catalyzed by the addition of
a catalyst solution (Manganese Sulphate), prepared in the group D611 dosed by the metering
pump G613. After oxidation, a pump transfers the baths to the equalization- homogenization
tank of general treatment.

General Treatment

The general effluent discharged by the tannery is collected in a unique concrete channel, it is
filtered through the manual bar screen FT111 and by gravity it gets to the inlet pumping station
of the plant [A112]. Two submersible pumps [G113 A/B] lift the effluent to the treatment plant.
The submersible pumps are of no-clog type, with a wide solids free passage and they are
operated by the level switch LS 111 A/B/C/D. The effluent is pumped into the self cleaning
rotary drum screen [FT 114] for fine filtration. The filtered medium of the screens provide to
retain from the fine particulate solids, which are scraped from the filtering drum, squeezed and
collected in container.

Filtered water flows downstream into the equalization –homogenization tank A115. Equalization
is aimed at controlling fluctuation in wastewater characteristics for the purpose of providing
optimum conditions for subsequent treatment process. Equalization serves two purposes:
physical homogenization (flow, temperature) and chemical homogenization (pH, nutrient,
organic matter). For proper homogenization and insurance of adequate equalization of the tank

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content, mixing is provided by means of an air distribution system [RD116], that introduces air
on the tank bottom. The system allows to oxidize the residual sulphides and to keep aerobic
conditions. The system is fed by the air blower P112. The flow rate the exits by pumping
[pumpG117] from equalization tank is uniform over a 24 hours-day by means of a flow control
loop, composed of the inductive magnetic flow meter and a frequency converter. The working of
the pump is operated by the level switch LS 112 A/B/C. The effluent is pumped into the
spontaneous settling tank [A119].

Biological Treatment

The biological treatment consists in an aerobic activated sludge system with extended aeration.
The proposed treatment enables to achieve a good effluent quality, by removing the greatest part
of the pollutant load. It is a continuous treatment uses a consortium of microbes suspended in the
wastewater in a aeration tank to absorb, adsorb and biodegrade the organic pollutants.

Part of the organic composition is completely oxidized to harmless and products and other
inorganic substances to provide energy to sustain the microbial growth and the formation of
biomass (flocks). The flocks are kept in suspension by air blown into the bottom of the tank. The
treatment here proposed is characterized by a limited production of excess sludge.

Clarified waters from spontaneous settling are divided into two parallel biological reactors. The
dissolved oxygen for the biochemical oxidation process is applied by air distribution systems,
composed by submerged membrane diffusers assembled in a submerged grid of pipes. The
system are fed by the air blowers.

The mixed liquor (effluent+ biological activated sludge) from the oxidation tank flows by gravity
into two secondary sedimentation tanks for the physical separation between the biological sludge
and treated waters. The settling tanks are equipped with sludge scarping bridges for scarping and
conveying the settled sludge in a central hopper.

The biological sludge is recirculated in the biological reactor and that part in excess is sent to the
sludge thickening tank. The reacted waters are discharged in final receptor.

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Sludge Thickening

The several sources of sludge generated by the plant are first collected in a thickening tank.
Thickening is a procedure used to increase the solids content of sludge by removing a portion of
the liquid fraction. Diluted sludge is fed to a center feed well. The feed sludge is allowed to settle
and compact and the thickening sludge is withdrawn from the conical tank bottom. The the
supernatant flow that results is drawn off and returned to the biological reactor, whereas the
collected sludge is transferred to the sludge conditioning treatment. Thickening tank is equipped
with a sludge scarping system for scarping the sludge and conveying it into the central hopper of
the tank.

Sludge Conditioning and Dewatering

Thickened sludge must be chemically conditioned expressly to improve their dewatering

characteristics. Chemical conditioning results in coagulation of the solids and release of the
absorbed water. For mixing chemicals and sludge, it is pumped to a series of tanks equipped with
vertical mixers inside which the chemicals are dosed by means of dosing pumps.

It is first dosed a solution of iron salt, stored in the reservoir D637 and dosed by the metering
pump G638. Then a Ca(OH)2 suspension is dosed. The suspension “lime milk” is preparedF634,
equipped with vertical mixer P635 and by the pump G636.

After that, the sludge is conditioned with a polyelectrolyte emulsion, that is prepared in tank
D631 equipped with vertical mixer P632 and dosed by the pump G633.

Once well conditioned, the sludge is pumped by a high pressure pump into the filtration
chambers of the filter press FP402, inside which the solids are kept by special filtering clothes
whereas the waters go across. The capacity of the pump is continuously regulated by the
frequency converter SIC402. The level of the last conditioning tank is monitored by the analogue
level meter LIC401.

With the advancing of the filtration cycle the filtering chambers fill of solids that are dewatered
by the mechanical action of the rising pressure. The waters lost by the sludge are drawn off and
returned to the biological treatment. Once the filtration cycle ends, the plates pack is opened and

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the dewatered solids fall by gravity, they are collected in a screw conveyor and disposed into a
container. When the container is full of cake, it is transported in the sludge landfill.

3.4 Chrome Recovery Plant

Preliminary pumping and fine screening

The spent tanning baths are segregated inside the tannery in a separate channel, they are filtered
through the manual bar filter FT151 and then collected in the pumping station A152. The
submersible pump G153 lifts the bath to the fine self cleaning rotary brushes screen. The scope
of fine filtration is to limit as much as possible the presence of extraneous solids in the recovered
chrome liquor. The removed material is automatically collected in container and periodically
discharged.

Storage, precipitation and filtration

Filtered baths flow in the storage tank A157, equipped with the submersible mixer P155 that
avoids solids settling and homogenize the incoming baths. The level in the tank is monitored by
the analogue level meter LIC152. The submersible pump G156 lifts the mixed baths to
precipitation tank A159. Inside that, the dissolved trivalent chromium is converted into chrome
hydroxide by doing alkali solution (caustic soda), by means of the metering pump G654. The
dosage is automatic and controlled by a pH control loop pHIC153 installed inside the
precipitation tank. Alkali solution and chrome baths are mixed by a vertical agaitator P158, that
provides to keep in suspension the generated chrome hydroxide precipitates. From precipitation
tank, the baths are pumped by the helicoidal pump G160 inside the chambers of a recessed plates
filter-press for solid-liquid separation. The capacity of the pump is controlled by the frequency
converter SIC155. Chrome hydroxide precipitates are retained by the filtering clothes of the
filter-press and they gradually fill the chambers. The pressure inside the filter, monitored by the
pressure transmitter PIC156, increases progressively and it allows to squeeze the retained solids
and to dewater them mechanically. The goal is to obtain a consistent cake with a constant
chrome content. The filtered waters are collected in a pipe and by gravity they reach the general
effluent. Once the filtration cycle ends, the plates package is opened: the dewatered chrome
cakes fall by gravity in a underlying screw conveyor that transports them inside the re-
dissolution reactor.

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3.5 Findings

From the superex leather industry, we can see that in here,

 The production quality is impressive

 Working environment is so friendly and have many opportunities for their worker
 People are so friendly and amicable
 Effluent treatment plant is made of modern technology
 All of the instruments are modern and attractive
 Have opportunities to treat the effluent to get the clean water
 Excessive wastes are dumped into the landfill
 Environment friendly chemicals are used to tanning process in most of the time

3.6 Internal Deficiencies

In this industry, we saw that all of the labour didn’t use any gloves on their hands during the
leather processing like liming, de-liming and fleshing in resulting of this they can be affected an
acute diseases and also the management of this industry wasn’t good due to its new
establishment. Besides, they (SLL) have not any environmental expert who will tell about the
environmental concern and the impacts and also have not conscious about the health hazard
that’s why this industry production can be obstructed in future.

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 CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION

4.1Conclusion

Superex leather ltd. is one of the best leather industry in Bangladesh due to this modern
technology and production quality. In the industry, they have used better technology and modern
instrument to extend their products and ETP is one of them. It is so much developed to treat the
effluent which comes from this industry and through this treatment plant the effluent is treated to
get the clean water and then it is directly discharged into the Bhairab river. The main aim of this
industy is to produce finish leather goods and then it is exported into all over the world. The
industry is run by a team of qualified, well trained and highly experienced professionals to
ensure high quality subject to gain the customer satisfaction and they consider themselves as the
buyer oriented leather industry and the working environment is friendly to meet their other needs
and also have opportunities to reveal their skill and excellency.

References

1. www.neoakruthi.com/blog/effluent-treatment-plant-1.html
2. www.superexleather.com
3. www.italprogetti.it

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