Elemental composition (C, H, N, S) of biowaste compost samples with controlled moisture levels

<p>The dataset contains information on the elemental composition (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur) of biowaste compost samples obtained during laboratory-scale composting over a 14-day process.</p><p>The C, H, N, and S contents are presented as percentages for substrate samples collected at the start of the process (day 0), after 7 days (day 7), and at the end of the process (day 14), for each reactor, in two replicates.</p><p>The composted material consisted of a biowaste mixture composed of cherry tree branches, fresh grass cuttings, and model food waste prepared according to Valta et al. (2019) (doi: 10.1177/0734242X18823943), in a mass ratio of 4:1.5:1, respectively. Composting was carried out at 45°C.</p><p>The study included three experimental variants differing in the initial moisture content of the biowaste:</p><ul><li>
<p>Reactors 1–4 correspond to biowaste with an initial dry matter content of 68.4% (denoted as M100 – representing the highest moisture level analyzed),</p>
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<p>Reactors 5–8 correspond to biowaste with an initial dry matter content of 78.4% (denoted as M90 – representing a moisture level 10 percentage points lower than the highest),</p>
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<p>Reactors 9–12 correspond to biowaste with an initial dry matter content of 87.4% (denoted as M80 – representing a moisture level 20 percentage points lower than the highest).</p>
</li></ul><p>During the composting process, distilled water was added every three days as follows: 10 mL to reactors 1–4, 5 mL to reactors 5–8, while reactors 9–12 were incubated without any water addition throughout the process.</p><p>Sample codes follow the structure: <strong>M</strong> for Moisture level (100, 90, 80), <strong>D</strong> for Day (00, 07, 14), and <strong>R</strong> for Reactor number. For example, the sample coded <strong>M100D07R4</strong> represents material from day 7, collected from reactor 4, operating at the highest moisture level.</p>