Leather Processing

Posted by King Winny on April 13th, 2019

(1) Degreasing

Lipase enzymes used in leather industry has achieved good results in degreasing of crepe, fur, leather, gelatin, and the like. Candida lipolytica lipase can reduce the oil content of the raw material of the spinning material from 10% to 0.5%, to meet the spinning requirements, and does not affect the fiber strength. Lipase can also remove fat between leather collagen fibers and degrease for fur. It not only has the advantage of not affecting the thickness and fastness of the leather, it can also make the fur product full, soft and elastic. After lipase treatment, the small droplets in the gelatin solution can be removed, and the oil stains on the instrument rag and the optical components can be removed to improve the quality and cleanliness of the product.

(2) Preparation of chemical products and reagents

By utilizing the action properties of lipase hydrolysis, synthesis and trans-fatty acid, it is possible to prepare chemical products with high chemical production costs. Erucic acid and its derivatives have a wide range of chemical applications and can be used in petrochemical, textile, chemical, light, and plastic industries. 

In recent years, due to the widening of the use of erucic acid and the increasing demand for erucic acid in the international market, the production of erucic acid has increased at home and abroad. At present, the production method of erucic acid is to hydrolyze canola oil and mustard oil under high temperature and high pressure, and then rectify to obtain a high purity product. Researchers have found that Candida lipolytica and Geotrichum can be used jointly on rapeseed oil to produce erucic acid, glycerin, saturated fatty acids, fatty alcohols and other products. The enzymatic production of erucic acid requires low action conditions and can result in high-purity product, which is a development direction of erucic acid production.