Abstract
Foam separation of high concentration chromium in leather tanning wastewater was investigated using casein protein as a foaming reagent5mL of5w/v% ammonium acetate buffer was added to the sample chromium water. After adjusting the pH to 9.0,4g/L concentrations of casein and gelatin solution were added to recovery the coagulating flocs of chromium resulting foam separation. The sample water containing chromium flocs was incased in reactor, then mixed with distilled water and 1mL of ethanol to sum 200mL total. The foam separation was performed at time intervals of 3min with an air flow rate of 300mL/min. With casein reagent, the removal rate of chromium was not influenced by the presence of NaCl, however, the rate decreased tendency using with the use of gelatin. The proposed method, utilizing 4g/L of casein solution with water, was not influenced by the presence of calcium (<34mM), magnesium (<1mM), carbonate (<0.5mM), bicarbonate (<1.2mM) nor sulfate (<350mM) ions, and is ideal for foam separation in chromium concentrations of about 100mgCr/L.
