Prospects of the use of anolyte in the leather and fur industry

In the leather and fur industry, the possibility of using electrochemically activated solutions has not been properly evaluated, although such processing of raw materials can contribute to the autonomy of production in the context of import substitution and reduce the environmental burden of enterprises on the environment. The work is aimed at optimizing the technological processes for the production of leather and fur using anolyte. Anolyte is an electrochemically activated solution of sodium chloride, obtained in a membrane plant by electrolysis. The paper proposes the use of anolyte in the process of soaking leather and fur raw materials without the addition of alkaline reagents, antiseptics, accelerators, enzymes and other auxiliary materials, as well as in the combined pickling and tanning of furs. The optimal conditions for obtaining anolyte solutions and their influence on the soaking process are determined. The results of the experimental studies carried out allow us to conclude that it is possible and promising to use electrochemically activated solutions in the preparatory processes of leather and fur production, which make it possible to ensure the high-quality soaking process, achieve the required degree of watering of the raw material in a shorter time, and prepare the structure of the dermis and leather tissue of the fur for subsequent technological processing. The article also presents the results of determining the physical and mechanical properties of mink skins after the use of anolyte in the process of combined pickling-tanning. The data obtained allow us to conclude that it is expedient to use anolyte solutions not only in the process of soaking, but also in other operations of leather and fur production. During the experiment, it was found that the anolyte contributed to the efficiency of technological processes, and as a result of such processing, the properties of mink skins corresponded to the standard ones.