Energetic component treatability study

The effectiveness of three environmentally sound processes for small energetic component disposal was examined experimentally in this study. The three destruction methods, batch reactor supercritical water oxidation, sodium hydroxide base hydrolysis and calcium carbonate cookoff were selected based on their potential for producing a clean solid residue and minimum release of toxic gases after component detonation. The explosive hazard was destroyed by all three processes. Batch supercritical water oxidation destroyed both the energetics and organics. Further development is desired to optimize process parameters. Sodium hydroxide base hydrolysis and calcium carbonate cookoff results indicated the potential for scrubbing gaseous detonation products. Further study and testing are needed to quantify the effectiveness of these later two processes for full-scale munition destruction. The preliminary experiments completed in this study have demonstrated the promise of these three processes as environmentally sound technologies for energetic component destruction. Continuation of these experimental programs is strongly recommended to optimize batch supercritical water oxidation processing, and to fully develop the sodium hydroxide base hydrolysis and calcium carbonate cookoff technologies