Pollutant Emissions from Municipal Biowaste Composting: Comparative Analysis and Contribution of N-Containing Organic Compounds

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper is very well written, and studies the composition of volatile pollutants and N containing compounds during composting of the main types of municipal solid waste, the results enable to improve the systems of exhaust air purification from airborne contaminants. For the benefit of the reader, however, a number of problems must be solved and certain statements require further justification before it is considered for publication. There are given below:

①Your manuscript needs careful editing and particular attention to English grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. such as, in page 13, 3.3.1, “are represented by” would all be “were represented by”.

②ABSTRACT is too long, which should be a concise summary of the full text

③The main volatile pollutants in the composting of SS and WC needs to be supplemented in INTRODUCTION. And you should cite all papers you use properly.

④A problem with this paper is lack of sufficient explanation of the simulation results. You need to explain in detail the effect of temperature and PH on VOC composition

⑤CONCLUSIONS should be concise and only summarize the most important contribution of the research. I think the first paragraph can be removed

⑥The significance of this paper is not expounded sufficiently. The author needs to highlight this paper's innovative contributions.

⑦The Figure 1 in your paper is a bit blurry and not intuitive enough. Please consider replacing them with clearer ones.

• Not much change is needed

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper presents comparative analysis of the emission of volatile substances from composted organic MSW carried out by electrochemical method, gas chromatography and SPME. This made it possible to assess the degree of possible atmospheric pollution during the composting of different MSW. The emission of most inorganic volatile substances depends more on the intensity of biodegradation than on the type of waste. On the other hand, the quantitative and qualitative composition of VOC emissions depended on the type of waste, with close dynamics of their formation during composting. The N-containing VOCs detected at the beginning of composting were amines with a very low olfactory sensitivity threshold and heterocyclic compounds with high toxicity. These data will help to define requirements for the removal of such compounds from the air used during composting. Further studies on effective methods to remove such contaminants are needed. The obtained results are important for assessing the risks to human health and comfort of living near industrial composting facilities and the logistics of placing such facilities.

It is valuable paper which should be published after minor revision as below.

General Remarks

Abstract

Please do not use abbreviation in abstract or provide the full name.

Detailed remarks

1.      Table 1. Please explain detailly why  SS and WC where mixed before composting. There’s original solution, not used in practice.

2.      Table 1. Germination index should be defined

3.      Lines 36-38. Please add proper references. .

4.      Lines 120-121.  Please explain detailly why  FW and WC where mixed before composting. There’s original solution, not used in practice.

5.      Lines 159-161. Short description of such methods should be added

6.      Point 2.5. Some references should be added.

7.      Point 3.3. Some references should be added

8.      Point 3.2.2. CAP, CU abbreviation should be defined

9.      Tables 1,2,3 should be self-explaining. Please add proper information.

10.  Figures 2,3,4,5 should be self-explaining. Please add proper information.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx