Bangladesh Leather Industry-Step

towards APEO free Leather Production

Bangladesh Leather Sector
At present leather sector accounts for 3-4 per cent of total export earnings. Of the
total 214 tanneries in the country the majority are wet blue producers. Hardly 45
per cent of the total hides and skins is now processed into finished leather -- 18 per
cent low grade for local consumption and 27 per cent for export either in the form of
finished leather or leather products. Only a few tanneries are capable of producing
export quality finished leather for export. There are about 15 export oriented shoe
manufacturing units located mostly in and around Dhaka city. There are more than
2000 shoe making units supplying the domestic market. Leather and leather
products have the potential to make a major contribution to export earnings and to
the economic development of the country. One of the major constraints of export
leather products to European market is strict regulation on hazardous chemicals. So,
the aim of this article is to given a flashback to the use Alkylphenol Ethoxlates in
leather production and help them to find APEO free leather auxiliaries.

Application of APEOs in General

Alkylphenol ethoxylates, APEO for short, are nonionic surfactants. They differ from
cationic and anionic surfactants in that their performance is not affected by the
presence of electrolytes, and this allows them to be employed over a wide pH
range. It is manufactured by causing alkylphenol to react with ethylene oxide. The

length of the hydrophobic alkyl chain and the hydrophilic polyglycol chain can be
varied in order to adapt them to a wide range of applications. They are highly
effective wetting agents and emulsifiers and they can be employed in all situations
in which hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances have to be brought together. Their
applications range from detergents and cleaners through to textile auxiliaries, paper
auxiliaries and pesticide formulations. The aim of this article is to given an given
regarding the use of APEOs in leather industry and
Applications for APEO in the leather industry?
Products that contain alkylphenol ethoxylates can be used in the leather industry in
all applications in which hydrophobic substances such as fats, oils or waxes have to
be emulsified in aqueous media. They can be employed in finishing auxiliaries and,
to a lesser extent, in fatliquors and water repellents. However, their main
application in the leather industry is to remove the natural fat from the skin in the
beam house on account of their excellent surface activity.
The natural fat contained in the skin has to be removed as thoroughly as possible
for high-quality leather to be obtained. The penetration and distribution of the
chemicals that are applied to the leather later on in the process can be affected if
the fat is not removed, and this is visible in the finished leather in the form of
greasy spots and stains.
Up until now, the most common practice has been to degrease skins in water with
surfactants such as NPEO or fatty alcohol ethoxylates. Nonylphenol ethoxylates
have been employed as degreasing agents on account of their better performance
and their superior cost effectiveness.

After the leather has been tanned, the next step is to replace the fat that has been
removed from the leather in order to make it soft and supple. Natural and synthetic
waxes and oils can be used in fat liquors, depending on the type of effect that is
required.
Modern water repellents generally contain polysiloxanes. Both of these groups of
products are normally supplied in the form of emulsions, and alkylphenol
ethoxylates are still used to emulsify and stabilize emulsions of this type. The
majority of fat liquors and water repellents are self-emulsifying to some extent. The
fat contained in fat liquors is treated by a variety of chemical reactions such as
sulfation, sulfonation or phosphation in order to insert hydrophilic groups into the
hydrophobic fat. This increases its affinity for the leather and also makes it selfemulsifying. However, additional emulsifiers are often added to improve the stability
of emulsions and to allow them to withstand long periods in storage and variations
in temperature etc.
Safer Alternatives

Alternatives are available in the market, most of renowned chemical manufacture

came up with alternative chemistry, just as an example is Esopen OE by BASF; the
technical data sheet can be downloaded fromhttp://www.prismadye.com/Files/TDS/EN/EUSAPON%20OE_EN.pdf