Open AccessHydrothermal oxidation of organic wastes using reclaimed ammonium nitrate
Author(s) -
P.I. Proesmans,
Luan Li,
S. J. Buelow
Publication year - 1996
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/225961
Subject(s) - chemistry , inorganic chemistry , nitrate , ammonia , ammonium , ammonium perchlorate , ammonium nitrate , oxidizing agent , acetic acid , nuclear chemistry , thermal decomposition , organic chemistry
Ammonium nitrate is being studied as an alternative for ammonium perchlorate as an oxidizing agent in Department of Defense 1.1 and 1.3 rocket propellants. Use of ammonium nitrate would eliminate the HCl produced by ammonium perchlorate upon thermal decomposition. To stabilize the ammonium nitrate, which suffers from phase instability, potassium dinitramide (KDN) is added. This increased use of ammonium nitrate will ultimately create a need for environmentally responsible processes to reuse ammonium nitrate extracted from demilitarized rocket motors. Ammonium Nitrate was investigated as an oxidizing agent for methanol, acetic acid and phenol. High removal of organic, ammonia and nitrate was achieved at stoichiometric concentrations. The oxidation of ammonia by nitrate was much faster than the oxidation of either methanol or acetic acid. Phenol, however, was in strong competition with ammonia for the oxidizer (nitrate). Nitrogen products included N{sub 2}, N{sub 2}O, NO{sub 2{sup {minus}}} as well as toxic NO and trace amounts of NO{sub 2}. Carbon products were CO{sub 2}, HCO{sub 3{sup {minus}}}, CO{sub 3}{sup 2{minus}}, and CO