journal practicum lasra

PROFFESIONAL TRAINING JOURNAL

228.210 PRACTICUM 2

Industrial Training at Leather and Shoe Research Association (LASRA).

NAME: Ahmad Fadhil Bin Rahim

ID: 14100172

COURSE: Bachelor (Hons) Chemical And Bioprocess Engineering

INSTITUTION: Massey University of New Zealand

PERIOD: 16th June 2015 – 24th July 2015

COMPANY: Leather and Shoe Research Association. (LASRA)

DEPARTMENT: Environmental Research Department

EMPLOYER: Mr. Geoffrey Holmes

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Ahmad Fadhil Bin Rahim99 Ferguson Street,West EndPalmerston North, 4410

Telephone: +64221099893Email: [email protected] Date: 05th June 2015

NZ Leather and Shoe Research AssociationFitzherbert Science Centre,69 Dairy Farm Road,Palmerston North 4446, New Zealand

Dear Sir,Re: Internship position

I am Ahmad Fadhil Bin Rahim, currently studying in third year Bachelor of Engineering Chemical and Bioprocess (hons) at Massey University, New Zealand. For your information, this internship is one of the essential requirements of Massey University’s engineering student to complete at least 300 hours of internship every year.

I have enclosed my CV to support my application. It shows that I would bring important and relevant knowledge; experience and skills to the position, including:

Experience and proficiency in roles within the processing industries through my major and work experience, as well as a solid comprehension of engineering principles.

A good understanding of the application of creative and objective approaches to the development process for the provision of innovative solutions to engineering problems.

Experience in the management of projects, through which I have developed a high level of time management and self-motivation skills.

I am keen to apply for the position in your company from 16st June 2015 – 24st July 2015. Being a student of Massey University has taught me a clear knowledge in regards with upstream operations specifically in exploration of chemical and biology field. Hence, to improve my knowledge on this course, it will be a great honor to be part of your employees as an intern student.

Finally, I hope that u will consider my application and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.

Yours sincerelyAhmad Fadhil Bin Rahim,Student,Massey University, New Zealand.

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Cover Letter for Internship

CAREER OBJECTIVE

I am a highly motivated engineering student with a passion for chemical and bioprocess operations. Has a

good understanding and knowledge of designing, calculation of product flow, heat exchanges,

environmental control and others. Also brings a strong work ethic and a natural talent for analysis and

problem solving. Objective of internship is to be able gain experience and apply the knowledge that is

gained throughout the third year of study in Chemical Engineering. Also wants to develop skills in

becoming a professional engineer.

EDUCATION DETAILS AND QUALIFICATIONS

Massey University, New Zealand (2015-Current)

Programme: Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Chemical and Bioprocess

Year Relevant papers and Grade Qualification(s) & achievement(s)

Massey University (2014) Molecules to Materials (B+)

Heat and mass transfer 1 (B-)

Engineering practice 3 (C)

Engineering mathematics 2 (A)

Fluid and Particle (A-)

Chemical Energetic (C+)

Lead teams of up to 4 people to

complete successfully 1 major

project (Milk Processing).

Successfully processing brew

from malt

Currently study on waste

management and control

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NAME: AHMAD FADHIL BIN RAHIM

ADDRESS: 99 Ferguson Street, West End, Palmerston North, 4412

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: +64 22 1099893 (New Zealand)/+60134069984 (Malaysia)

Curiculum Vitae

Other institutions

Institution and Year ProgrammeQualification(s) and

award(s)

UniKL MICET (2013)Bachelor of Chemical Engineering

Technology in Process (Honours) 1st yearCGPA: 3.42

Kolej MARA Kuala Nerang

(2012)Foundation in Science and Technology CGPA: 3.81

MRSM Kuala Krai, Kelantan

(2011)SPM 6A+ , 1A, 3A-

RELEVANT SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

Computer literacy

Proficient in Microsoft programs like Word, Excell and others.

Experience with Mathlab and R-Gui Software for Calculation.

Ability to work

Able to work independently and also as part of team

I have led a team up to 4 people to complete successfully a major project.

Strong communication skills

I have made individual and group presentations to groups of 30+ people.

Written reports every week during my study.

Taken strings of English proficiency test (IELTS) with band 7.

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POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY

YEAR POSITION(S)

2014

Sport Officer of MUMSA student club in New Zealand

Organizer in BERSATU games annual event held at Palmerston North, New

Zealand

2013 Enforcement Committee of College at UniKL MICET

2012 President of Sport and Recreation Club;

President of Warden Assistant Board in Kuala Nerang MARA College

2008-2011 Student Representative Council of MJSC Kuala Krai

Student Disciplinary Board for 2 consecutive years in MRSM Kuala Krai

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS

YEAR ACHIEVEMENT(S)

2014

Represented Manawatu Region for North Island Badminton Championship in New

Zealand.

Build and Design a system for milk processing which are covered pump system, piping and

plate heat exchanger.

2013 Represent UniKL MICET in Hockey and Badminton Tournament.

2012

Represented Kolej MARA Kuala Nerang for Choral Speaking competition

Gold Medal for project exhibition at UNIMAP which explained about the lecithin for

butter production.

2010-2011

Represented MJSC Kuala Krai in Choral Speaking, International Olympiad Mathematic,

National Chemistry Quizzes, Malaysia Police Cadet Camp and become Best Student of

MJSC Kuala Krai in SPM 2011

REFEREES

1) Professor Don Cleland

Mentor and Head,

School of Engineering and Advanced Technology

Massey University

Email: [email protected]

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mailto:[email protected]

TECHNICAL INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT








This report is submitted in partial fulfillment to be eligible to graduate in Bachelor (hons) of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thank you to Allah S.W.T. that allows me to finish this Internship Training. First and

foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to Leather and Shoe Research Association

(LASRA) for giving me an opportunity to complete my internship during winter break. I am also

grateful for my company supervisor Mr. Geoffrey Holmes for his support, guidance and

encouragement during my internship period.

I also would like to thank to all staff of LASRA, especially to Dr. Sujay Prabakar for

suggesting me to have an experience working in LASRA. Not forget to thank to Dr. Dylan Ball,

Environmental Research Officer for helping and guiding me during my research and laboratory

work.

Besides, I would like to acknowledge Prof Don Cleland, my practicum supervisor and

Head of School of Engineering and Advanced Technology for giving me a chance to complete

my practicum 2 during winter break although it is supposed to be done during summer break.

Last but not least, I am especially indebted to my parent for continuously supporting me

so I can finish this industrial training.

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SUMMARY

From 16th June 2015 until 24th July 2015 I worked for Leather and Shoe Research

Association located at Fitzherbert Science Centre Dairy Farm Rd, Palmerston North. During that

period, I have learned many things about tanning processes and also their waste management.

The chemicals containing sulfur are widely used in leather processing causing high concentration

of sulphate in their waste water. So I have been tasked to find other method that can reduced the

sulphate concentration in the effluent so that it can be discharged to the river by following the

Ministry of Health of New Zealand which is 1200ppm. From the research that have been made,

combination of modified Lime and LSR treatment are the best method in order to reduce the

concentration of sulphate with a low cost treatment. Based on the experiment, the concentration

is successfully reduced below than 1000ppm. However, there are several recommendations that

need to be reconsidered before treating the waste water in large scale.

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CONTENT

Acknowledgement 8Summary 92.0 Introduction 113.0 Company Background 3.1 Company History 3.2 LASRA’s Role 3.3 Goals and Objectives

12121213

4.0 Company Operation 4.1 Research 4.2 Testing 4.3 Training

14141415

5.0 Work Descriptions 5.1 Tanning Processes 5.2 Overview of Literature Review 5.3 Comparison between Treatment Processes 5.4 Recommended Method 5.5 Results

161618192021

6.0 Technology Analysis 6.1 Technologist Organization 6.2 Reporting Structure 6.3 Prioritization of Activities

222223

7.0 Conclusion 238.0 Recommendations 249.0 References 2510.0 Appendices 10.1 LASRA’s History becoming TEO 10.2 Literature Survey Report 10.3 Flow Diagram of Recommended Treatment Method

26262741

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2.0 INTRODUCTION

LASRA is a Research Association that support the New Zealand pelt, hide, leather and related

industries through technical innovation, product testing and information dissemination. In leather

processing industry, there are large quantities of sulphuric acid and other chemicals containing

sulfurs usage as sharpening agent. This will causes high sulphate concentration in the waste

water of the tannery plant.

Currently, most of the tannery plant in New Zealand use dilution method in order to reduce the

sulphate concentration. However, this method needs very large quantities of pure water to

increase the water content inside the sulphate waste so that the concentration can be lowered.

And sometimes, this method still not achieves the standard from Ministry of Health of New

Zealand because the sulphate concentration is relatively high up to 3000-4000ppm.

LASRA has been engaged by the Industry Technical Advisory Group to investigate methods of

reducing the discharge of sulphate in effluent. I have been tasked with investigation of the best

methods to reduce sulphate levels in the waste steams but principally by precipitation as

etteringite.

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3.0 COMPANY BACKGROUND

3.1 History

LASRA has been serve the leather and footwear manufacturing industries since 1934. Because

LASRA has many facility, expertise and experience in providing industry specific research and

analysis to provide solutions to the industry challenges, it becomes the premier Australasian

research, technology and training provider for the leather, upholstery and footwear

manufacturing industries.

LASRA become more important to the leather industry when they start in giving an opportunity

to others tannery or footwear companies to have a developing practical, making commercial

sense of analytical and also testing work for the clients.

After a few years, the LASRA analytical laboratory has been credited by the International

Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and also Mutual Recognition Arrangement

(MRA). This is because all the testing performed are according to international standards which

are by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and also by ASTM International

which are develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for materials,

products, services and systems (Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, 2016).

Other than that, LASRA also acts as the information provider to the industry and running

correspondence courses to assist in providing training in leather manufacturing technology.

All of the information above is referred to the main website of the company. (LASRA, 2016)

3.2 LASRA’s Role

LASRA main role is to promote the well-being and the development of the leather and leather

related industries. LASRA only can achieve this by applying science and technology to the

understanding of hide and skin resources. LASRA also must promote the application of science,

technology and training to the production of leather and leathergoods. For more information of

this role, Appendices 10.1 shows the external evaluation of LASRA about being the Tertiary

Education Organization (TEO). Lastly, in order to achieve the role, they must ensure the

Association is well resourced and effectively managed in interests if its membership.

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3.3 Goals and Objectives

LASRA’s goals and objectives are divided into six different services which are:

a) Strategic Research To carry out strategic research related to hide and skin resources of relevance to

the membership To carry out leather science research appropriate to the interests of industry and

where appropriate, the public good

b) Applied Research To develop technology options to further the interests of the membership To provide applied research services and actively encourage the development of

hide and skin resources relevant to the interests of the membership.

c) Technical Services To assist technical development within the hide, skin, leather and leathergoods

industries through consultancy and technology transfer. To maintain technical facilities and information resources consistent with the

needs of the industrial membership interested parties and the general public.

d) Training Deliveries To provide a resource base for training activities for all industry sectors of the

membership. To foster the use of training as an effective means of improving product quality

and production performances in the hide, skin, leather, leathergoods industries.

e) Information Dissemination To maintain LASRA as a center of information on leather and promote

understandings of these industries within the general public. To disseminate information to the hide, skin, leather and leathergoods industries.

f) Effectiveness To ensure LASRA maintains and plans for capabilities required by its

membership. To ensure LASRA management and planning ensures future viability. To use connections and involvements with external bodies to protect and further

the interests of the LASRA membership.

4.0 COMPANY OPERATIONS

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LASRA support the New Zealand pelt, hide, leather and related industries through technical

innovation, product testing, and training. LASRA operates under ISO with accreditation from

IAANZ, International Accreditation New Zealand whose mutual recognition agreements with

counterpart authorities over 40 countries all over the world such as USA, Germany, Japan and

UK. (NZQA, 2012)

4.1 Research

LASRA conduct all aspects of research like production of skin, skin removal and also skin

improvement property value by maintenance of the advanced atomic force microscopy. LASRA

current research is focus on the improvement of intrinsic properties of skin material to get to the

maximum strength and performance. (LASRA, 2016)

Figure shown below is one of the research project on differentiate looseness of hide by using

ultrasound.

Figure 1: Ultrasound result from research on the differentiation of looseness of the hide. (LASRA, 2016)

4.2 Testing

LASRA provide both physical and chemical analytical testing of footwear,leather partially

processed and chemicals processed, and industrial waste by using variety of special equipment.

LASRA laboratory is using internationally recognized testing methods related to the

International Standards Organisation (ISO), British Standards Institute (BS), ASTM International

(ASTM), German standards (DIN) and SATRA standards (STM/PM) to ensure the integrity of

our results. (LASRA, 2016)

4.3 Training

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LASRA deliver 4 types of quality courses which is Introductory, Advanced, Fellmongery and

Moodle Courses. All the courses are full of latest international information and techniques

related to the hide tanners, lamb pelt tanners and also woolskin tanners. There are also online

quizzes to help strengthen the learning in each unit and provide immediate feedback to students

on their performance.

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5.0 WORK DESCRIPTIONS

During the internship period at LASRA, I was asked to do some research on tanning processes to

understand how the sulphate waste is produced in effluent discharges before having some

literature and laboratory testing.

5.1 Tanning Processes

Animal skins are converted to leather follow the steps below (M.M.McMillan):

1) Unhairing and Curing

Animal is killed and skinned before the body heat leaves the tissues. The hair of keratin now is subject to the alkali which will break the sulphur-sulphur bond of keratin by hydrolysis. Then, to prevent putrefaction of collagen from bacterial growth, salt is added to the skin. Difference in osmotic pressure is applied to removes water in the skins.

2) Soaking

Soaking is a process to increase the moisture content of the skin back after the curing process. During this process, all the salt left inside the skin will be removed.

3) Liming

Liming is a treatment with lime milk and sharpening agent which is usually sodium sulfide is used to remove hairs, soluble proteins and natural grease. The covalent disulfide bond will rupture and weakening the keratin structure inside the skins.

4) Deliming and Bateing

The skin structure is opened further by treatment of enzyme and all the unwanted material is removed. Bateing is an enzyme digestion process that be achieved by acid salts treatment like ammonium sulphate until the desired pH is reached.

5) Pickling

The skins are agitated in a solution of salt and sulphuric acid until the pH reached to 3.0-3.5. The skins is treated in pickling process can preserve them up to two years.

6) Tanning

Tanning is the most chemically complex step because during tanning, some of the collagen inside the skin structure is replaced with complex ions of chromium. The color and texture of the leather also changed depending on the compounds used.

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7) Neutralizing, Dyeing and Fat Liquoring

To prevent deterioration, the leather is neutralized with alkali before it is dyed. To improve the suppleness and flexibility of the leather, it is treated with reactive oils. The oils will attach to the fibrous structure of the leather.

8) Drying

The chemical properties are stabilized after all the water inside the leather is removed by drying process.

9) Finishing

To make sure the color and texture of the leather is even, a surface coating is applied. The main requirements for finishing are evenness and the reproducibility of color and adequate wear and feel properties.

All the information of the tanning process is referred to the (M.M.McMillan). Since the tanning processes used large quantities of sulphuric acid and other sulfur containing chemicals, this will causes high sulphate concentrations in the waste water of tannery plant. (Galiana-Aleixandre,2011). Hence, I was asked to have some literature survey to find the best method in reducing the sulphate concentration.

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5.2 Literature Review on Sulphate Removal Methods

To find a best method in reducing the sulphate concentration in tanning industrial waste water,

literature review was done which can be referred in Appendice 10.2. Currently, all tanneries in

New Zealand used dilution method which is not the concentration requirement for sulphate

before discharge into the river. The sulphate concentration must be below at 1200ppm and the

influent of the sulphate is relatively high which is in between 3000-4000ppm. So, the new

methods need to be discovered to replace the dilution methods.

There are many methods that have been tested in some tanneries but all of them are highly costs

and ineffective. As example, some of the company used membrane separation method like ultra-

filtration, reverse osmosis and ion exchange method, but all of these methods has a short

membrane life which need to changes every time. This is because the membranes pores are

always clogging with other bigger particles and causing high cost for maintenance.

In order to choose the best method, survey has been done to compare all of the method in terms

of sulphate removal efficiency, costs and also effectiveness. There are several methods that have

found which are lime/limestone treatment, SAVMIN, CESR, BaS, Adsorption, LSR and also

CSIR integrated methods.

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5.3 Comparison between Treatment Processes

Sulphate need to be reduced below than 1200mg/L from 3000mg/L of sulphate. Among of the

processes stated in the Appendices 10.2, the most suitable method is Lime/Limestone and LSR

treatment method. SAVMIN process seems suitable but because this method is slightly

expensive, so it was ignored. It is too effective which can reduce the sulphate concentration to

below than 50ppm instead of only below than 1200ppm. It is should be noted that the costs is

depend strongly on the specific design, local market prices and also labor costs. Cost that was

estimated in Appendices 10.2 must use with caution because they were made at different times

and may not been updated.

Lime/Limestone process seems can reduce the concentration of sulphate at the required level.

But this only can happen depends on the metal precipitation that can be occurs in the lime

treatment. If the concentration of metal in the influent is high, mostly calcium hydroxide will be

used by metal and produce metal precipitation and calcium ions. So, if this case happen, the

process can be further continue with LSR treatment by adding calcium aluminate to reduce again

the sulphate concentration.

For the Barium Sulphide and CESR methods, both are most expensive and CESR method will

produces largest amount of sludge. In biological methods, bioreactor appears to be most efficient

among other biological sulphate removal methods like Constructed Wetland, Alkalinity

Producing Systems and Permeable Barrier. This is because, Constructed Wetland and Alkalinity

Producing Systems has a very small reduction of sulphate and require pretreatment which can

increase the cost. Permeable Barrier can remove a large amount of sulphate, but it is for long

term performance because the reduction rate is in between 10.5-15.3 ppm/day. (Benner, 2002)

For adsorption method using activated carbon or zeolites, the reduction of sulphate depends on

the surface available in the adsorbent. If the concentration of sulphate is high, that means the area

and mass of the adsorbent will also increase. Furthermore, this method is only suitable for a low

sulphate concentration influent because of their micro porous character and chemical nature of

their surface. (Salman, 2009)

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5.4 Recommended Method

The treatment is recommended by combining lime/limestone treatment as pretreatment and LSR

for final clarification. The overall treatment processes can be summarized stage by stage as

below:

1) Stage 1 : Calcium Carbonate

The influent enters the treatment at acidic pH. The Calcium Carbonate need to be added until the pH is neutralized at 7. This process will produce carbon dioxide and also formation of gypsum. The gypsum is removed by vacuum filtration through membranes filters and the carbon dioxide produced is collected for stage 5. The retention time for this stage is 1 hour.

`2) Stage 2 : Calcium Hydroxide

The pH need to be rised up until 12 by adding calcium hydroxide for magnesium precipitation and also gypsum formation. Both of them are removed by vacuum filtration and the retention of this stage is around 2.7 hours.

3) Stage 3 : Precipitation of Calcium Carbonate

For optimum precipitation of the calcium carbonate, the water needs to reduce it pH from

12 to 8. Addition of carbon dioxide from the first stage is needed for pH control. The

retention time is only 30 minutes. The calcium carbonate precipitation is collected for

recycled purpose at stage 1.

4) Stage 4 : Addition of Calcium Aluminate

Calcium aluminate is added until the pH rise up to 12 again. At this stage, the etteringite

crystalline will be form due to the reaction of remaining sulphate in the water with the

calcium aluminate.

5) Stage 5 : Final Clarification

Reduce the pH around 6.5 to 8.5 by using carbon dioxide to prevent dissolution of

aluminium hydroxide.

The summary of these processes can be shown in the figure 3 in Appendices 10.3.

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5.5 Results

Table 1 below shows the results from laboratory testing for treatment of suphate from the

tannery waste water. The results were taken by averaging the values of three different

measurements:

Table 1: Average results from 3 experiments

Parameter

Stages

Untreated CaCO3 CaOH CaCO3

Calcium

Aluminat

e

CO2

pH 2.6 7.1 11.8 8.5 12.4 7.3

Sulphate

(mg/L)3700 2630 1588 1552 997 995

The pH value is measured by using the pH meter. pH value is very important in order to measure

the amount of the chemical reagent that need to be added. This is because, each chemical in all

stages require exact value of pH to make the reactions. In this experiment, carbon dioxide

produced in stage 1 did not recycled back into stage 5 because this experiment is in small scale

jar and really hard to collect the gas without a good collection pipe.

The sulphate concentration is measured by using chromatography method. After each of the

stages, the concentration of sulphate is measured to compare between all stages. Sludge

production and other metal composition in the waste water are ignored because of lack of time.

This is because; the main aim of this research is only to reduce the sulphate concentration.

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6.0 TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS

6.1 Technologist Organization

LASRA activities are under supervision of several Technical Advisory Groups which are

Ministry of Health New Zealand and World Health Organization. All the chemical usage and

discharge are under their control. But when some issues come to the company, the Groups will

ask for solution in order to solve the issues.

As example for my project research, the limit of sulphate concentration has been reduced to

1200ppm for river discharge, so, me and my team, Environmental Research Department led by

Mr. Dylan Ball needs to investigate a solution for this problem in order to fulfill the task given

by the Groups. After a solution is found, Testing & Services Department will work together to

conduct an experiment for solving the problem. All the result will be send to Product Evaluation

team before a report need to be done for LASRA’s director, Mr. Geoffrey Holmes.

6.2 Reporting Structure

There are three ways on how the reporting structure in LASRA been done. First, any project and

research will be presenting using power points. LASRA will have meeting with all staffs every

week, and at this time all the project progressions will be presenting on screen to share with all

the staffs. Second, the project or research is completely done; the report will be hand to Director

of LASRA. In August every year, LASRA will havin a conference mostly in Wellington, This

conference is attended by all LASRA staffs, Technical Advisory Group, Tannery and also

LASRA company’s members. During this conference, they will discuss all project and research

that have been done and also marketing plan. After the conference, a book will be published for

company future references. This book will book is not for sale and the copy only can be found in

LASRA’s Library managed by Miss Karen Jones.

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6.3 Prioritization of Activities

LASRA prioritize their activities by having a list of project on a board. LASRA wrote down

everything that needs to get done for that month. When they have everything down, they got

stickers which has urgent and non-urgent symbol besides the points. This will determine the top

activities for the day. By doing this, they can prevent spending too much time only on a project

or task.

7.0 CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, this internship is full of knowledge and job experiences and the most important

it is complying with my course. The LASRA had shown the real working environment and able

to relate theoretical knowledge in pursuing degree with application in the industry. In LASRA

also, I has faced the real life of working environment as a researcher and learnt how to handle

laboratory work. This experience is very valuable because students only learned about the basic

concept of all processes instead of to handle the processes by ourselves.

In term of the experiment, the sulphate has now been reduced below than 1200ppm by using the

five stages method. Although the small scale experiment were success but we still need to

consider in a large scale processes. Because of the final concentration of sulphate is below than

1000ppm instead of 1200ppm, this will cost much in a large scale. Some recommendation must

be done to have optimum processes that have both efficiency and low cost.

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8.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

First of all, it is recommended to make the internship period longer than 300 hour per practicum

for example the student need to complete two practicums by 450 hour each. This is because, the

student will know all the staff and of course the company well. Besides that, the project or task

given by the company can be done perfectly.

Then, about the processes, to reduce the cost, the lime or calcium carbonate in untreated waste

water need to reconsider. During the tanning process, lime is used in excess so that the

composition of calcium carbonate in the waste water is still in excess. So, stage 3 is no need at

all since the sulphate reduction in stage 3 is only ~2%. Hence, the cost can be saved by not

having stage 3.

Furthermore, other chemical compositions in the waste water need to be measured as well since

the world health organization also have their own limitation on the chemical contain. Hence, in

order to control the sulphate concentration, the other composition must be considered to make

sure the effluent of this process is completely can be discharged into the river.

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9.0 REFERENCES

Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. (7 February, 2016). Retrieved 18 February, 2016, from ASTM International: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASTM_International

Benner, S. (2002). Rate of Sulphate Reduction and Metal Sulfides Precipitation in a Permeable Reactive Barrier (Vol. 17). Appl. Geochem.

Galiana-Aleixandre, M. (2011). Reducing sulfates concentration in the tannery effluent by applying pollution prevention techniques and nanofiltration. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19, 91-98.

LASRA. (2016). Leather and Shoe Research Association. Retrieved 18 February, 2016, from https://www.lasra.co.nz

M.M.McMillan, B. a. (n.d.). The Chemistry of the Leather Industry. G. L. Bowron & Co. Ltd.

NZQA. (2012). Report of external Evaluation and Review. New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

Salman, M. (2009). Removal of Sulphate from Waste Water by Activated Carbon. Al-Khwarizmi Engineering Journal, 5(3), 72-76.

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10.0 APPENDICES

10.1 LASRA’s History in Becoming TEO

Figure 2: Some information about LASRA in becoming one of the Tertiary Education Organization (NZQA, 2012)

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10.2 Literature Survey Report

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10.3 Flow Diagram of Recommended Treatment Process

Figure 3: Process Flow Diagram of Recommended Treatment Method

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INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REFLECTIVE REPORT


STUDENT ID: 14100172







42

1.0 COMPARISON

The table below shows the comparison of the annual outcomes after having industrial training between my supervisor and me. There are five type of rating categories which are:

1 = Cannot Verify 2 = Proven to a limited degree 3 = Proven to some degree

4 = Proven to high degree 5 = Proven to outstanding degree

No Attributes My Evaluation

Employer Evaluation

1 Apply knowledge of mathematics, natural science, engineering fundamental and an engineering specialization to the solution of complex engineering problems.

3 5

2 Identify, formulate, research literature and analyze complex engineering problems reaching substantiated conclusions using first principles of mathematics, natural sciences and engineering sciences.

4 5

3 Design solutions for complex engineering problems and design systems, components and processes that meet specified needs with appropriate consideration for public health and safety, cultural, societal and environmental considerations.

4 4

4 Conduct investigations of complex problems using research based knowledge and research methods including design of experiments, analysis and interpretation of data, and synthesis of information to provide valid conclusions.

2 4

5 Create, select and apply appropriate techniques, resources, and modern engineering and IT tools including prediction and modeling to complex engineering activities with an understanding of the limitations.

3 3

6 Apply reasoning informed by contextual knowledge to access societal, safety, legal and cultural issues and the consequent responsibilities relevant to professional engineering practice and solutions to complex engineering problems.

4 4

7 Understand and evaluate the sustainability and impact of professional engineering work in the solution of complex engineering problems in societal and environmental context.

5 5

8 Apply ethical principles and commit to professional ethics and responsibilities and norms of engineering practice. 4 2

9 Function effectively as individual, and as a member or leader in diverse teams and in multi-disciplinary settings. 4 5

10 Communicate effectively on complex engineering activities with the engineering community and with society at large, such as being able to comprehend and write effectively reports and design documentation, make effective presentations and give and receive clear instructions.

3 3

11 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of engineering management principles and economics-decision making and apply these to one’s own work as a member and leader in a team to manage projects and in multidisciplinary environments.

3 4

12 Recognize the need for, and have the preparation and ability to engage in independent and life-long learning in the broadcast context of technological change.

4 3

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2.0 DISCUSSION

Attribute 1:

I have learned waste water treatment during my first semester in third year. But this case is different because we only focused on sulphate removal instead of COD, BOD, TSS and others. This is because, what I have learned in class is more on biological treatment compare to this internship which are using only chemical precipitation treatment. So, I have to adapt myself to the company problem by having some literature to understand everything about the company. My supervisor give me 5 may be because of the basic knowledge about controlling waste since I have pass the Environmental Technology paper.

Attribute 2:

On the first day of my internship, my supervisor asked me to read some literatures to identify the best method for sulphate removal. This is because, currently in New Zealand tanning industry, they used dilution method that is not meet sulphate concentration requirement for river discharge. Hence, I give myself 4 because I have found so many methods for my literature. All of these methods are quite new to me and I have learned new things outside the formal class. When I submit the literature review report, my supervisor is shocked because of the nicely written report. He was not expecting me to write any report actually, but I used to write it anyway so that I can see the entire related article in one document. So, he gave me 5 for this attribute.

Attribute 3:

From the result of my literature review, the best method for sulphate removal is a combination of two methods which are Lime treatment and LSR treatment methods. The selection method is based on consideration of sulphate removal efficiency and also treatment costs. Removal efficiency must not too high and not too low since we only want to reduce the sulphate concentration to 1200ppm. This is because too high performance of removal will cost a lot. So, he agreed with my opinion because as the concentration of sulphate below than 1200ppm is enough to keep the environment clean especially discharge river.

Attribute 4:

I gave my-self 2 because I need to wait for two week before one of the tanneries in New Zealand gave the water sample for my experiments. During that time, my supervisor asked me to prepare any materials and reagents that will be need during the experiment. Before that, he asked me to have a plan on how we will conduct the experiment and measure the sulphate concentration. We only need batch process like a jar test but more complicated because we have 4 different stages that have their own retention time for all the chemical reagent react with the sulphate content in the water sample.

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Attribute 5:

The sulphate concentrations were measured by chromatography method. This method is usually cannot be used because of this method use turbidity principle. But the waste water is only come from the leather processing which is used a lot of sulphur contain chemical. Hence, the waste water is only exposed to the sulphur content chemical but not others contaminant like in waste water treatment plant that contain a lot of impurities both non-biodegradable and biodegradable. So, this turbidity method for measuring the sulphate concentration is valid when others impurities is considered as negligible. However, the chromatography is only can be used by LASRA’s staff which means I only wait for the result to analyze the data.

Attribute 6:

Most of drinking water in New Zealand is treated from the river. And the river is one of the sources for industrial waste discharge. So, to make sure the river is clean without any toxic materials, all industrial company needs to obey the discharge requirement by Ministry of Health New Zealand. Although it will be treated again before making the water as drinking water, but, the environmental conditions also need to consider especially to the aquatic life. Hence, no matter what cost the treatment is, all the industrial company need to find a solution in order to meet the concentration limits.

Attribute 7:

As mentioned earlier, because of the dilution method cannot meet the new discharge requirement for sulphate, a new methods need to be discovered to make sure the river is not polluted with dangerous chemical substances. This is because when the river is polluted; all the aquatic life will die because of the toxicity of the river. The decreasing number of aquatic life will cause unstable ecosystem around the river as well. For societal impact, the drinking water will content some untreated chemical content that is toxic for human. Furthermore, to those who are support their living by fishing; this will affect them as well since the number of catches is reducing day by day.

Attribute 8:

I believe that I have fulfilled the ethical and responsibilities during my internship period. I always come on time to work, wear suitable attire and follow all the safety and health regulation during in the labs. However, my supervisor gives me only 2 because I was not supposed to smoking outside of the building with others staff during tea break. That was not a good manner as engineering students (Although smoking at smoking area).

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Attribute 9:

We always have group discussion and also meeting with all staffs every Thursdays morning. This will make me more comfortable because I can discuss with them if I got any problems with my research. This means, although all them have their own work and project, but they still can share their idea and knowledge in order to solve my problems. As individual intern in the company, i always make a good relationship with other staff to make sure my industrial training is done smoothly without any problem.

Attribute 10:

In a company, a good relationship between the employees and employer will strength up the company. That is why LASRA held a weekly meeting to make sure this kind of bonding does not break. Although I did not have any presentation during my internship or weekly meeting, but I did a good report which was praised a lot by Environmental Research Officer.

Attribute 11:

I recommended that the attendance system need to change to a better system like Time Clocking System or Punch Card system. This will prevent any of the staff including me come late to work. Log Book system is too old for this generation and this system can cause deception of the staffs that comes late and still pretend that they come early.

Attribute 12:

Different plants have their own structure and working principle. The technology used also might be different according to the amount of the influent and chemical usage. As example, when the demand for leathers and leathergoods are increasing, the influent of the waste also increase which will increase the cost. Another example is, when the Ministry of Health has increased the sulphate concentration requirement for the river, the dilution method need to change because the method is no longer work to have a better result.

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