In recent decades the use of anaerobic fixed bed reactors has been established in Brazil for the treatment of different effluents. As the capability of retaining microorganisms by support media (fixed bed) is a factor influencing the performance of these reactors, the present study aims at evaluating the influence of three fixed bed on the effectiveness of treating an effluent with high pollution potential: wastewater from coffee grain processing (WCP), with organic matter concentrations varying from 812 to 5320 mg L-1 in the form of chemical oxygen demand (COD). Support media used for the immobilization of biomass were: blast furnace slag, polyurethane foam and #2 crushed stone with porosities of 53, 95 and 48%, respectively. The mean efficiency of COD removal in the reactor filled with polyurethane foam was 80%, attributed to its higher porosity index, which also provided greater retention and fixation of biomass which, when quantified as total volatile solids, was found to be 1301 mg g-1 of foam. The biofilm was made up of various microorganisms, including rod, curved rods, cocci, filaments and morphologies similar to Methanosaeta sp. and Methanosarcina sp.
anaerobic treatment; microbial biomass; support media; coffee
