Anaerobic Solutions for Coffee

Purification and
Cleaning

After coffee is harvested, It undergoes a processing method in which the coffee beans are removed from the raw fruit.

The wet process (generally used) involves washing the pulp of the coffee cherries to reveal the coffee beans, which can require between 3 to 5 litres of water for each litre of fruit, resulting in a very significant level of water use.

In order to minimize these levels of consumption, processing factories typically recycle the cleaning water (generally without any pre-treatment), which contains very high concentrations of solids (from 4 to 9 g/l in suspension, where dissolved levels may vary), as well as C0D, B0D₅, (from 6 to 45 gl and 2 to 14 g/l, respectively), together with oils and greases and a significant level of acidification with pH typically < 6.

Processing the
Fruit

Processing of the coffee fruit typically includes roasting and grinding, as well as creating granules and mixtures with other ingredients to make cappuccino and other coffee styles.

The effluent from coffee processing typically contains levels of solids, C0D, DB0₅, oils and fats which are somewhat lower than those found in the purification state. However, at the same time, they can also contain sulphates, chlorides, as well as high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Treatment

The highly contaminated wastewaters generated by purification, cleaning and processing of coffee beans require careful and efficient treatment.

The anaerobic process from the BIOTECS AnUp↑-SB reactor has been applied with great success in this area and has shown itself to be highly efficient and safe when combined with an efficient range of pre-treatment systems.