The emission characteristics of volatile compounds (VCs) during municipal sewage sludge (MSS) and paper mill sludge (PMS) drying process were investigated through experiments conducted on a lab-scale tubular drying furnace and a pilot-scale paddle dryer, respectively. The result indicated that five kinds of VCs, i.e. CO(2), NH(3), C(7)H(16) (n-heptane), volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and CH(4) were emitted during the drying process. It was found that the NH(3) and CO(2) were the primary compound released from the MSS drying process. In the case of the PMS, the VFAs and CO(2) were the main compounds released. The temperature and water content of sludge had great effects on the emission rates of NH(3), C(7)H(16), CO(2) and VFAs. The pH and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of condensate from the paddle dryer were also studied. It showed that pH and COD of condensate from MSS were much higher than that from the PMS, and that the higher COD value of the MSS condensate interrelated to the higher ammonium and sulfur content of it.