WO2013114341A2

WO2013114341A2 - Modular system for wet coffee processing without water pollution

Info

Publication number: WO2013114341A2
Application number: PCT/IB2013/050898
Authority: WO
Inventors: Carlos E. OLIVEROS T.; Juan Rodrigo SANZ URIBE; Cesar A. RAMÍREZ G.; Paula J. RAMOS G.; Aída E. PEÑUELA M.
Original assignee: Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia
Current assignee: Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia
Priority date: 2012-02-02
Filing date: 2013-02-03
Publication date: 2013-08-08
Anticipated expiration: 2014-08-02
Also published as: CN104254257A; CO6730164A1; PE20142414A1; MX2014009341A; WO2013114341A3; BR112014019242A2; NI201400085A; GT201400171A; CR20140407A; MX361675B; CN104254257B; BR112014019242B1; BR112014019242A8; PE20142255A1; MX385189B; PE20142254A1

Description

MODULAR SYSTEM FOR WET COFFEE PROCESSING WITHOUT WATER

POLLUTION

1. Field of the Invention

The general field of the invention encompasses the technology for carrying out wet coffee processing without polluting water supplies. Particularly, the present invention refers to a machine and a coffee washing process without previous mucilage degradation by natural fermentation or through the addition of pectinolytic enzymes, with which 100% of the water pollution generated through wet coffee processing is controlled, thus entirely reducing the impact of hydrolyzed sugar wastewater on the environment.

2. Description of the art

During wet coffee processing two structures covering the bean are removed, the skin of the fruit (or epicarp) and the mucilage (or mesocarp). In order to remove coffee mucilage, natural fermentation and washing is used, or mechanical devices. When natural fermentation is used, coffee is left in tanks during 16 up to 20 hours in order to allow for mucilage degradation through microorganism and enzyme activity found on beans. Degraded mucilage is later removed using different devices using specific water consumption ranging from 4.2 L/kg to more than 20 L/kg of processed dried coffee (csp, Spanish acronym). In order to reduce the pollutant load of hydrolyzed sugar wastewater in the process, coffee processing residual water treatment technology has been developed which allows removal from 75% to 90% of the organic load present. However, the resulting effluents must be treated since they show loads near 2000 ppm of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in average, depending on the technology and specific water consumption used. Several types of devices exist in prior art used to remove coffee mucilage using machines called demucilagers. Colombian Patent No. 25860 (Ardila), proposes a demucilaging and coffee washing scheme as shown in Fig. 1A, which is comprised of a rotor having bars welded to a shaft (Fig IB), rotating vertically, inside a housing made with rods with a square cross-section (Fig 1C). Towards the bottom, the rotor has a propeller welded thereon in order to force bean flow through the open space between the housing and the rotor. Mucilage is removed as it moves inside the machine and later expelled through the open space between the housing's rods. Water is supplied to the rotor's shaft, by means of a pump. This machine has a specific water consumption of 1.83 L per kilogram of dry coffee, in excess to those seen on Cenicafe's DESLIMS machines (National Coffee Research Center, Chinchina, Caldas, Colombia), which range between 0.7 and 1.0 L per kilogram of dry coffee. It was also noted that the mucilage removal efficacy in the 25860 document ranged between 80 and 82%.

The patent titled "Device and Process for Ecological Coffee and Byproduct Processing", granted in Peru on March 2001 (Docket 000610-1996/OIN), in Brazil granted on March 2006 (Docket PI9604088 2), in Guatemala granted on August 2007 (Docket PI- 1996 0089) and in Mexico granted on March 2007 (Docket PA/a/1996/003756), which discloses a technology that combines waterless coffee depulping, mechanical demucilaging and pulp and mucilage blending, avoids more than 90% of potential water supply pollution without affecting the product's intrinsic quality. The mentioned patent claims a mechanical device for demucilaging (DESmuclaginar, in Spanish), wash and clean (LIMpiar, in Spanish) coffee using upward flow, called DESLIM (Spanish acronym).

Another technological process developed at Cenicafe called BECOLSUB (Wet ecological coffee processing and by-product management) mechanically removes mucilage in a DESLIM demucilager without the need for natural fermentation, with a specific water consumption of 0.7 to 1.0 L per kilogram of processed dried coffee. Resulting coffee wastewater is blended with the pulp thus controlling more than 90% of the pollution generated in the process. The lixiviates generated can be blended with the decomposed pulp allowing to control more than 95% of the pollution. Despite the technical and environmental advantages achieved by the BECOLSUB process for the mechanical removal of mucilage and by-product handling (pulp and wastewater), due to handling problems (water flow and non-appropriate beans) high lixiviate volume is frequently observed having high environmental impact.

Another process developed by Fukunaga (1957) disclosed a vertical upward bean flow coffee demucilager, Fig 2A, comprising a shaker made of 6.35 mm diameter steel rods placed in the middle of a 15 cm diameter cylinder. In order to increase bean shaking and in order to produce upward flow, Fukunaga welded 9.5 mm diameter steel rods to the outside surface of the shaker. Rotor speed was 860 rpm and specific power and water consumption was 0.00244 kW-h per kilogram of depulped coffee and 0.42 L per kilogram of depulped coffee, respectively. The device comprises two chambers: the first chamber, 15 cm diameter, beans are subject to high shear strengths and continuous vertical flow, thus expecting a high demucilaging percentage. The shaker (or impact device, according to Fukunaga, 1957) can rotate at relatively high rates (1200 rpm) without a significant increase in power consumption given its reduced diameter. Coffee beans which exit this first chamber enter the second chamber where there is another shaker rotating at a lesser rate (1000 rpm). According to the inventor, the coffee must be washed in a later step within the coffee processing.

Processes used in coffee farms for degraded mucilage washing:

Once coffee in a natural fermentation process or enzyme application process is ready to initiate a wash phase (in practice, once 95% of mucilage has been degraded), it must be removed as soon as possible using clean water. For the purpose of contrasting the instant technology for which a patent is being applied for, processes coined soft washes used in Colombia and other coffee-producing nations are described below:

Manual Agitation Tank Wash. The least specific water consumption (4.17 L per kilogram of processed dried coffee) is obtained using a tank having round edges and a pallet. Four rinses are used, entirely covering the mass with clean water in each rinse. If this wastewater is adequately disposed of and no water is used when depulping coffee, up to 85% of potential pollution is controlled. At Cenicafe, a yield of 270 hg/h and a pollution load of 25,946 ppm of COD/kg of dry coffee have been documented. Washing Channel. A device used to wash, clean and screen coffee (Roa, et al, 1999) with the use of an agitating pallet and locks. The water used generally does not recirculate and the specific water consumption is high (> 20 L per kg of processed dried coffee). Using a washing channel, an average of 1500 kg of coffee/h is washed and screened using between 20 to 25 m³ of clean water (28 to 35 L per kg of processed dried coffee) having a load of 3,940 ppm of COD per kg of dry coffee.

Wash tank having submergible pump. A submergible pump is used to wash coffee by passing said coffee from one tank to another four times, with a coffee/water ratio of 2/3 in mass, water recirculation used in the third rinse and a 5,000 kg/h flow of coffee and water mix. A specific consumption of 9 L per kg of processed dried coffee and pollution load of 12,692 ppm of COD per kg of dry coffee is estimated. Semi-submerged channel wash. Hydromechanic device wherein coffee is transported through a channel by means of a submergible pump; greater density beans settle in the first sections and are separated in a hopper, while lesser density beans are dragged by the water flow and unloaded at a second tank. All floats and the majority of the pulp are removed from the semi-submerged channel. Through the use of these submergible pumps, up to 7000 kg of dried processed coffee per hour is processed with a water consumption of 6.4 L per kg of processed dried coffee, without recirculation, and a load of 17,505 ppm of COD per kg of dry coffee.

Venturi ejector. A hydraulic device, wherein the wash phase is carried out by means of friction by feeding coffee having degraded mucilage into a pipe using a Venturi ejector, and also during its later conveying. The hydraulic ejectors operate at pressures ranging from 2.5 to 4.0 atm, obtained through pumps or hydraulic head difference. Operation is recommended with a degraded mucilage coffee/water mixture ratio of 2/5 v:v. Pump power requirements are high and thus have also lost popularity.

Horizontal shaft mechanical washers. These basically consist of a cylinder in which a central shaft rotates, said shaft having pallets which assure agitation and the forward movement of the coffee mass and the water-mucilage mixture until unloading and at the same time carrying out the wash phase. Normally, the central shaft rotates at 40 rpm and the necessary power to move said shaft is 1.5 kW, when the cylinder is 1.80 meters high and 0.40 meter in diameter. Its capacity is estimated at 1500 kg of coffee having degraded mucilage/hour and a consumption of 0.3 liters of water per kilogram of coffee having fermented mucilage.

Vertical shaft mechanical washers. These consist of a circular tank located vertically and of a pallet tree located centrally therein. Fermented coffee is shaken in this device until clean, allowing for used water to continuously exit the device by overflow and through gates located at the bottom. The mechanical action of mucilage separation is energetic when working with little water and much less when increasing the water/coffee ratio. The washer can be initially operated with little water and increase said water supply towards the end of the process. The central shaft rotates at about 18 rpm and the motor power is 0.75 or 1.5 kW, according to if said operation is being carried out using abundant water or not, in a tank with a 0.8 m³ capacity.

Megawasher® mechanical washer, manufactured by Penagos (Bucaramanga, Colombia). It comprises a vertical shaft and upward flow continuous mechanical device for coffee washing having degraded mucilage, which shows, according to the manufacturer, specific water consumption between 1.2 and 2.0 L per kg of processed dried coffee and power requirements of 4.5 kW for its operation.

Other patents for mechanical coffee washers. Other available equipment in prior art does not include depulping or depulped coffee cleaning. After searching patent databases, the following information was found: US patent No. 266, 249, granted 31 March 1928 shown in Fig 2B, discloses a machine for washing coffee and other products comprising a rotor rotating inside a water-proof housing slightly sloped, filled with water. The product is fed into the washer through the bottom end of thgear and, as the rotor rotates, rises until it is unloaded at the highest point on top of the washer. Beans and water flow in opposite directions. The rotor can be a worm gear or a shaft having pallets welded onto its surface spaced spirally; the housing does not have perforations in order to separate fluids (water and mucilage) from coffee. As noted in Fig 2B and in Fig 3, the device is both physically different (externally and internally) as well as in its operation, in comparison to the machine for which a patent is sought herein.

3. Summary of the invention

The instant invention discloses a coffee washing machine wherein the coffee mucilage has previously been degraded by means of natural fermentation or by the addition of pectinolytic enzymes, wherein the degradation process minimizes the coffee's environmental impact together with the washing process. As noted in Fig 3, the machine herein comprises: i) a depulping system (1 1) comprising one or more machines according to capacity; ii) a conveyor transport system which can be a worm gear (18) in order to take the depulped coffee to a device to be screened according to size, which may be a sifter (13), whereby a large part of the pulp and berries are removed; iii) a conveyor transport system which may also be a worm gear (14) in order to take depulped coffee to the cylindrical fermentation tanks; iv) one or more cylindrical tanks (15) having an inverted truncated cone shape, in order to allow unloading by means of gravity and facilitate further washing, with substantial reduction in the water volume used in comparison to masonry-manufactured tanks, tanks made from inert materials such as stainless steel, in order to deposit depulped coffee and all for mucilage degradation by means of natural fermentation or through the use of enzymes; v) a worm gear (9) rotating at 30 or 40 rpm in order to dosage-feed coffee with degraded mucilage from the tanks (15) to the mechanical washer (17); vi) a mechanical washer (17) having upward vertical bean flow, comprising a rotor having a series of stirring bars together with worm gears (one located at the bottom base of the rotor and another one located at the top third (item 6 in Fig 5)) which allow for reduced coffee retention time inside the housing and which additionally allow maintaining the rotational movement in the entire bean column and thus gain greater washing efficacy and greater yield, making better use of the mechanical energy used, low specific water consumption and low mechanical coffee damage. One of the preferred embodiments of the instant invention allows washing coffee in a capacity range between 500 kg/h and 5,000 kg/h of washed coffee, with mucilage removal efficacies ranging between 95 and 99%, specific water consumption between 0.3 and 0.4 L per kg of processed dried coffee and less than 0.5% of mechanical coffee bean damage, less in comparison to research carried out at Cenicafe using DESLIM technology (Roa et al., 1999; Mejia et al., 2007).

Wastewater produced (mucilage + added water + bean remains) from washing in the instant invention is not mixed with pulp; in one of the preferred embodiments, it can be dehydrated and later added to the decomposed pulp, using solar energy and tunnel type dryers designed through technology developed at Cenicafe (Oliveros et al., 2006), as well as mechanical dryers or any other type of dryer, in order to avoid the generation of lixiviates and gain control over 100% of the water pollution generated in the process.

The method disclosed in the instant invention comprises: i) depulping coffee berries; ii) conveying coffee to a screening system in order to remove berries not depulped and the vast majority of the pulp; iii) conveying depulped berries to a tank, iv) storing the depulped berries in tanks allowing for mucilage degradation either through natural fermentation or by use of pectinolytic enzymes; v) conveying coffee from the fermentation tank towards the mechanical washer; vi) removing the degraded mucilage, allowing for washed coffee ready to initiate the drying phase.

4. Description of the Drawings

Figs 1A, IB and 1C show details of a demucilaging coffee device according to prior art.

Figs 2A and 2B show details of a demucilager and a coffee washer according to prior art.

Fig 3 shows the ecological coffee-washing module using natural fermentation or the application of pectinolytic enzymes of the instant invention. Fig 4 shows details of a coffee feeding worm gear and mechanical washer of the instant invention.

Fig 5 shows details of a rotor of the mechanical washer and housing of the instant 5 invention.

Fig 6 shows details of the sliding gate of the fermentation tanks. Fig 7 shows details of the stirrers and washers.

0

5. Description of the invention

In reference to Figs 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, the preferred illustrated embodiment of the instant 5 invention is described in detail:

Coffee washer (17).

The coffee washing device can be manufactured to process anywhere between 500 kg/h to 5,000 kg/h of washed coffee. The components in each module to process different 0 coffee amounts are the same, varying in the case of washer (17) size and number of stirrers (2), driving propeller (7) and intermediate propeller (6), rotor size (1), as indicated in Table 1. The rest of the components in each module, such as the tank, the worm gear which feeds coffee to the washer in the required flow according to the model, the number of depulpers and capacity thereof, have different sizing according to 5 each ones capacity.

Table 1. Rotor specifications of coffee washing devices for different capacities (kg of washed coffee/h)

Referring to Fig 5, the rotor for the specific case of a module for 3,500 kg of washed coffee/h is shown, although it shows the same features and elements of other modules but in sizes shown on Table 1. The washer (17) comprises one rotor (1) having stirrers (2) and spacers (39) which separate the stirrers, rotationally connected to a steel shaft with a square cross-section. It should be understood by any normally skilled person that a rotating connection means any type of coupling that allows the shaft to rotate and move elements connected thereto through the action generated by the construction of its square cross-section. The shaft is operatively connected to a motor at the top section in such a manner the rotor can rotate. In the different embodiments of the instant invention, the group of stirrers have a greater length vane called cleaners (4), which has the same cross-section as the stirrers (2) and which allows maintaining the interior surface of the housing (5) clean when rotating and thus avoiding obstructions. Referring to table 1, it may be noted for example that for the model with the 3500 kg of coffee/h capacity, the washer (17) has four cleaners (4). The number of cleaners goes according to the capacity of the module as described on Table 1.

Referring to Fig 7, stirrer (2), cleaner (4) and spacer (3) details are shown. The stirrers (2) (Fig 7B) have 8 vanes and have a rectangular cross-section, as shown in the transverse B-B section, have the following size: 22 mm x 15 mm x 18 mm in length made in plastic or metallic materials. The spacers (3) have the following dimensions: 27 mm in height and 99.5 mm in diameter, also made from plastic or metallic materials. The steel shaft with a square cross-section is 32 mm long. The cleaners (4) (Fig 7C) have the same cross-section as the stirrers (2) and are 33 mm long and oppositely located in order to avoid any imbalance in the rotor.

Continuing with Fig 5, the water required to wash the coffee is fed through three inlet holes (20) on the housing each measuring 9.5 mm, located at 400 mm, 625 mm and 875 mm (element 8 in Fig 5) from the housing base (5). The washer (17) rotor (1) has an intermediate propeller (6) located in the intermediate section of the rotor, at 485 mm high, having a 195 mm diameter, 195 mm pitch and 160 mm high, manufactured in 305 or 430 grade 14 steel, in order to maintain the rotational movement of the coffee mass, avoiding material accumulation such as pulp which could obstruct the housing holes and affect washing, and also to reduce power and reduce mechanical damage inflicted on the beans. The rotor (1) rotates at 870 rpm about the housing (5) center having an inside diameter of 215 mm and 1000 mm high, made from 305 or 430 grade 16 steel sheet material, having 27 x 3 mm perforations and a perforated area of 40%. In order to obtain the required water flow in order to wash coffee in the device, maximum 16 L per minute for the module with greatest capacity (5,000 kg of washed coffee/h), commercially available valves (19) are used.

The coffee to be washed in the device is fed through a worm gear conveyor (9) (shown on Figure 4) having a 150 mm diameter and 150 mm pitch, rotating at 25 to 40 rpm according to the desired device capacity. Coffee is fed through the bottom housing section (5), at the area where the coffee-driving propeller (7) is located. In order to reduce the coffee mechanical damage caused when entering the mechanical washer, and as observed in Fig 4, a T-shape splitter connection was designed (10) which allows for these to rise in the 150 mm diameter and 200 mm high column thus avoiding being compressed by the conveyor worm gear (9).

Depulping, cleaning and coffee mucilage fermentation. In reference to the module with the 3500 kg of coffee/h capacity, being one of the preferred embodiments, a depulping system or depulper is used (11) having a 2000 kg of cherries/h yield supported on a metallic structure (12); however, it must be understood that for any embodiment, a depulping system is used (1 1) and also a metallic structure (12) supporting each one of the components of the instant invention. The depulped coffee is passed though a circular sieve (13) having oblong 8 x 30 mm perforations and a perforated area greater than 30%, in order to remove the vast majority of pulp of existing cherries not yet depulped. The sieve can be circular with rods or machined laminate sheet, or in other embodiments, it can be flat swing sieve. The depulped sieve- cleansed coffee (13) is conveyed in an elevator (14) into two deposit tanks (15) (o more, according to farm needs). The elevators can be comprised of a worm gear or it can be a bucket elevator.

In the preferred embodiment, the tanks (15) are manufactured in an inverted truncated cone shape, with a diameter greater than 1000 mm, 240 mm bottom diameter and 930 mm high, having a sliding gate (21 on Fig 6) at the bottom in order to allow coffee flow towards the mechanical washer feeder (17). The hopper has an inverted cone shape with more than a 65-degree inclination re the horizontal made in stainless steel or inert material. The gate (21) is perforated in order to allow wastewater drainage (mucilage + added water + bean remains + coffee pulp remains) during the coffee flow fermentation stage at the beginning of the wash. The tank (15) is supported on a metallic structure (16), which in the preferred embodiment, each one of the tanks has a capacity for 1000 kg of depulped coffee. The tanks (15) may be manufactured of stainless 305 or 430 grade 18 steel, and are designed to store coffee the time it requires in order to reach the "wash point", which may be anywhere between 16 to 20 hours with natural fermentation or maximum 3 hours when using pectinolytic enzymes.

In order to remove coffee from a tank or a series of tanks (15), a worm gear (9) is used placed at its base, which feeds the mechanical washer (17) using the T-shaped connection (10) mentioned above, in order to reduce damage inflicted upon the coffee when entering the washer (17). It must be understood that several conveyor types can be used and that not necessarily the worm gear is the only method to convey coffee from one system to the other. Other horizontal or slightly inclined conveyor methods may be used, such as for example a pallet conveyor.

Preferred embodiment Procedure and Operation

In order to use the device of the instant invention in one of the preferred embodiments, in reference to Figs 3, 4 and 5, and following the procedure of the instant invention, the following is done: i) coffee berries are depulped using depulping machines (1 1) and through the use of a worm gear (18), the depulped coffee is conveyed to a sieve (13); ii) a majority of the pulp is removed on the sieve (13) and all other berries not depulped. Through the use of a worm gear (14) conveyor or buckets, the coffee is taken to the fermentation tanks (15); iii) coffee mucilage is left degrading in the tanks (15) for 16 to 18 hours by the effect of microorganism activity and bean enzymes; the mucilage can also be degraded in less than three hours using pectinolytic enzymes applied on coffee before entering the fermentation tank (15); iv) coffee is removed from the tank (15) by means of gravity upon opening the sliding gate (21) and by using a worm gear (9) it is conveyed to a T-shaped connection (10) joined to the washer (17) at its base which avoids beans from being subject to shears generated by the feeder worm gear (9) or the washer driving propeller (7) which could damage the coffee. Once the coffee is inside the washer (17), the coffee flows upward pushing forward through the use of the driving propeller (7) and the intermediate propeller (6). As the coffee is flowing upwards, the housing interior (5) of the washer (17) is receiving water from some valves (19) that are connected to the water inlet holes (20) at several locations along the housing (5). In certain embodiments of the instant invention, valves may vary from 1, for the 500 kg of washed coffee/h model, to 3, for the 5000 kg of washed coffee/h model. Coffee is washed due to friction between coffee beans as it moves forward through the open space left between the stirrers (2), housing walls (5), water counter-flowing and the effect of centrifugal force generated by the rotor (1) towards the inside of the washer (127), rotating at 870 rpm.

Washed coffee exits the washer (17) through the top portion with a removal rate of 95% or more of the mucilage and with a device-inflicted mechanical damage of less than 0.4%. The washed coffee can be taken to the dryer immediately, or, in certain special cases, another device may be required to remove impurities. All wastewater produced (mucilage + added water + bean remains + coffee pulp remains) during washing using the device is conveyed by gravity or using a pump towards solar energy or mechanical dryers designed for this purpose, allowing to control 100% of the pollution which could impact water supplies or the dryers. The above examples pretend to illustrate some of the embodiments and possible applications of the invention, but in no way pretend to be limiting thereof. The actual scope of protection is found solely limited by the scope of the claims found below.

Claims

1. An upward vertical flow depulped coffee washing system, characterized in that it is comprised of the following elements:

a. a perforated cylindrical housing (5), having a depulped coffee inlet on its bottom end and a washed coffee outlet on its top end;

b. inlet holes (20) on the cylindrical housing surface (5) for water entry to the washing system and thus allow coffee washing;

c. a shaft (1) located inside and in a coaxial relationship with the cylindrical housing (5), operatively connected to a motor that allows rotating the shaft;

d. stirrers (2) rotationally connected to the shaft (1), which coaxially rotate about the shaft (1) and allow the coffee to be washed;

e. a driving propeller (7) rotationally connected and over the bottom portion of the shaft (1) which generates upward vertical flow of the coffee; and

f. an intermediate propeller (6) rotationally connected on the intermediate portion of the shaft (1) that generates rotational movement of the coffee mass.

2. The coffee washing system of Claim 1, characterized because it is comprised of the following elements:

e. at least one stirrer (4) of greater length than the stirrers (2) rotationally connected to the shaft (1), to act as a cleanser inside the housing (5);

f. spacers (3) intermittently placed between stirrers (2) and (4);

g. a driving propeller (7) rotationally connected and over the bottom portion of shaft (1) which generates upward vertical flow of the coffee; and h. an intermediate propeller (6) rotationally connected on the intermediate portion of the shaft (1) that generates rotational movement of the coffee mass.

3. The coffee washing system of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the housing (5) is manufactured of a metallic material.

4. The coffee washing system of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the housing (5) has perforations that represent an area of 40% and the largest perforation size being less than 4.0 mm.

5. The coffee washing system of Claim 1, characterized because the shaft (1) has a square cross-section.

6. The coffee washing system of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that vanes (2) and (4) have a square cross-sections and are manufactured from plastic or metal.

7. A modular system for depulping, degrading mucilage and washing coffee characterized by:

a. a depulping system (11);

b. a conveying system, which conveys depulped coffee from the depulping system (1 1) to a size screening system (13);

c. a depulped coffee size screening system (13);

d. a conveying system, which conveys screened coffee to at least one deposit tank

(15);

e. at least one deposit tank (15) for depositing depulped coffee and allowing coffee mucilage degradation;

f. a conveying system which conveys coffee with degraded mucilage from the deposit tanks (15) to a mechanical washer (17); and

g. an upward vertical flow coffee mechanical washer (17).

8. The modular system of Claim 7, characterized because the size screening device is selected from the group comprised of a rod cylindrical sieve, machined sheet cylindrical sieve, or a flat swing sieve.

9. The modular system of Claim 7, characterized because the conveying system can be selected from the group consisting of a worm gear and a pallet conveyor.

10. The modular system of Claim 7, characterized because the tank (15) has at its base a sliding perforated gate (21), which allows wastewater drainage produced during the mucilage fermentation stage.

1 1. The modular system of Claim 7, characterized because the conveying system that conveys coffee with degraded mucilage from the tanks (15) to the mechanical washer (17) has a splitter connection (10) in order to release coffee pressure within the worm gear.

12. A procedure for wet coffee processing characterized in the following steps: a. depulping coffee through a depulping system (1 1);

b. size-screening coffee using a depulped coffee size-screening system (13);

c. degrading screened and depulped coffee mucilage;

d. washing the coffee mass with degraded mucilage; and

e. drying wastewater produced during the degradation and drying process.

13. The procedure of Claim 12, wherein the coffee mucilage degradation is carried out through a natural method or through pectinolytic enzymes.