Agglomerate of leather shavings: Thermal and Mechanical Properties

Abstract

This paper has the purpose of reporting the activity of the tanning industry in the country and its environmental impacts, with emphasis on the solid wastes known as “Wet Blue Shavings”. To add value to these wastes, this paper propose the production of an agglomerate to be employed as thermal insulator, using the shavings as load and the product of their hydrolysis as agglomerate. The purpose is to collect experimental data about the influence of the ratio load/adhesive used and the effect of the material moisture contents on its suitability as insulator. To this purpose, tensile and thermal conductivity tests were carried out under different conditions and their results and conclusions are related herewith.