DRY BIOMATERIAL PRODUCTION FROM FRESH HIDES AND SKINS

Fresh hides and skins were processed directly from the slaughterhouse. New unhairing and dewooling operations based on bath temperature control were applied, without affecting the quality and properties of the not yet stabilized collagen fibbers. The objective was the activation of the enzymes already present in raw hides and skins, resulting in an ecological process that avoids chemicals. Only small additions of auxiliaries to control pH were added to the unhairing or dewooling bath. Once hair and wool were removed from the grain side, the pelts were subjected to a solvent dehydration-degreasing operation, where the putrescible collagen material was converted into a stable dry collagen material able to be commercialized and easily stabilized by immersion procedures. It included the design of a new machine to obtain a collagen-dehydrated biomaterial (BCD) in a non-emission cycle using a polar solvent. The results are; curing and soaking are not necessary, salts and sulphides can be avoided. For this reason, this is projected to be a new non-pollutant beamhouse procedure followed by the production of dry collagenic material that is stable, spongy and with no special requirements for their storage and commercialization.