| Title: | Characterisation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by the composting of different waste matrices |
| Author(s): | Schiavon M; Martini LM; Corra C; Scapinello M; Coller G; Tosi P; Ragazzi M; |
| Address: | "Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, I-38123 Trento, Italy. Electronic address: marco.schiavon@unitn.it. Department of Physics, University of Trento, Via Sommarive 14, I-38123 Trento, Italy. Department of Physics, University of Trento c/o KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium. Department of Economics and Management, University of Trento, Via Verdi 53, I-38122 Trento, Italy. Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, I-38123 Trento, Italy" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.08.096 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1873-6424 (Electronic) 0269-7491 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The complaints arising from the problem of odorants released by composting plants may impede the construction of new composting facilities, preclude the proper activity of existing facilities or even lead to their closure, with negative implications for waste management and local economy. Improving the knowledge on VOC emissions from composting processes is of particular importance since different VOCs imply different odour impacts. To this purpose, three different organic matrices were studied in this work: dewatered sewage sludge (M1), digested organic fraction of municipal solid waste (M2) and untreated food waste (M3). The three matrices were aerobically biodegraded in a bench-scale bioreactor simulating composting conditions. A homemade device sampled the process air from each treatment at defined time intervals. The samples were analysed for VOC detection. The information on the concentrations of the detected VOCs was combined with the VOC-specific odour thresholds to estimate the relative weight of each biodegraded matrix in terms of odour impact. When the odour formation was at its maximum, the waste gas from the composting of M3 showed a total odour concentration about 60 and 15,000 times higher than those resulting from the composting of M1 and M2, respectively. Ethyl isovalerate showed the highest contribution to the total odour concentration (>99%). Terpenes (alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, p-cymene and limonene) were abundantly present in M2 and M3, while sulphides (dimethyl sulphide and dimethyl disulphide) were the dominant components of M1" |
| Keywords: | "Air Pollutants/*analysis Bicyclic Monoterpenes Biodegradation, Environmental Bioreactors Bridged Bicyclo Compounds *Composting Cyclohexenes Cymenes Environmental Monitoring Limonene Monoterpenes Odorants/analysis Refuse Disposal/methods Sewage/analysis So;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineSchiavon, Marco Martini, Luca Matteo Corra, Cesare Scapinello, Marco Coller, Graziano Tosi, Paolo Ragazzi, Marco eng England 2017/09/05 Environ Pollut. 2017 Dec; 231(Pt 1):845-853. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.08.096. Epub 2017 Sep 25" |
