Furnace, deactivation

A wide variety of special-purpose incinerators (qv) with accompanying gas scmbbers and soHd particle collectors have been developed and installed in various demilitarisation faciUties. These include flashing furnaces that remove all vestiges of explosive from metal parts to assure safety in handling deactivation furnaces, to render safe small arms and nonlethal chemical munitions fluidized-bed incinerators that bum slurries of ground up propellants or explosives in oil and rotary kilns to destroy explosive and contaminated waste and bulk explosive. 

Energetics to Deactivation Furnace System or Off-site Disposal 5X Clean Metal Parts... 

Finding 3-1. The Army has not determined when a commitment to an on-site deactivation furnace system as part of a modified baseline process at Pueblo must be made if a permit for the off-site transport of energetics has not been received. 

Recommendation 3-1. The Army should develop a process and schedule to determine when a decision must be made between the off-site transport of energetics or their on-site disposal in a deactivation furnace system. To avoid schedule delays, the decision mechanism must account for uncertainties in the permitting process. 

Recommendation 3-8. Lessons learned at JACADS from the disposal or decontamination of demilitarization protective ensemble suits and dunnage in the metal parts furnace should be incorporated into the design and operation of the comparable furnace (MPF) of the modified baseline process. Spent decontamination fluid should be injected into the MPF afterburner (or deactivation furnace system [DFS] afterburner) if it cannot be shipped off site. Similarly, contaminated spent carbon can be processed through either the MPF or the DFS if there is one. Uncontaminated dunnage and spent carbon, slag, and ash can be shipped off site to permitted waste disposal facilities after being tested to ensure they meet all requirements for off-site disposal. 

NOTE DFS, deactivation furnace system DPE, demilitarization protective ensemble LIC, liquid incinerator MPF, metal parts furnace PAS, pollution abatement system and PPE, personal protective equipment. 

Similar to RCRA, once the trial plan has been approved, a trial burn will be conducted and the results reported to the regional administrator or the director, National Program Chemical Division, for approval. At TOCDF, trial burns were conducted in accordance with RCRA and TSCA protocols for certain M55 rockets. The acceptance criteria for the RCRA trial burn of the liquid incinerators, the deactivation furnace system (DFS), and the metal parts furnace were met. A second test of the DFS destruction efficiency for PCBs showed that emissions levels meet TSCA criteria (NRC, 1999). 

Prior to agent operations, STBs were carried out for each of the three furnaces at the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (ANCDF) the liquid incinerator (FIC), the deactivation furnace system (DFS), and the metal parts furnace (MPF). GB ATBs were conducted for the FIC and DFS in 2003 and for the MPF in 2005. In 2006, VX ATBs were conducted for the FIC and DFS. A DRE performance test was conducted on the MPF in 2006, and MPF VX ATBs are planned for 2007.4 After an ATB, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management allows ANCDF to oper-... 

Scrap metal generated at stockpile disposal facilities comes from the treatment of metal munitions casings and bulk ton containers (TCs) in the MPF or deactivation furnace system (DFS) after the agent has been drained. Drained bulk containers and munition casings with energetic materials removed and metal munition components are treated in the MPF to destroy any agent residues. After treatment, the metal parts are allowed to cool, vacuumed to remove loose paint flakes and ash residue, and stored temporarily prior to shipment off-site. 

At ANCDF, the Army verified through testing that metal scrap from the operation of the deactivation furnace system (DFS) or the MPF is thermally decontaminated.23 Therefore the ANCDF RCRA permit provides that scrap metal (bulk containers, projectiles, mortar rounds, etc.) that has been thermally decontaminated and further cleaned to remove any remaining loose residue may be recycled as a feedstock for steelmaking (i.e., smelting) (ADEM, 2006). 

White phosphorus filled munitions are a major item in the current Army demilitarization inventory. Ammunition Equipment Office engineers are developing methods to punch a sized hole into the white phosphorus filled munition to control the rate at which burning occurs when the munition is processed through the deactivation furnace. By controlling the burning rate, the... 

Jan-92 JACADS (Unusual Occurrence) Deactivation furnace system (DFS) Processing VX-filled M55 rockets when a detonation occurred within the DFS, causing the kiln to stop rotating. 

During its in-depth review, the committee observed differences in the types and completeness of entries made in JACADS and TOCDF operating logs (deactivation furnace system, demilitarization protective ensemble, control room. 

The Army investigation report (U.S. Army, 200If) also seems to minimize the importance of the time the event began. It begins "1. Introduction. On 5 December 2000 at 0156 hours (local time), chemical agent VX was detected and confirmed in the ash from the HDC bin (BIN 135) at the Deactivation Furnace System (DFS), ... 

The deactivation furnace system (DFS) cyclone is contained in an enclosure that is monitored by an ACAMS. 

A video given to the committee and referred to in Appendix C showed rockets being sheared and the pieces dropping to the deactivation furnace system (DFS) below. 

Mist eliminator candle replacement (plugged during deactivation furnace system (DFS) rocket runs, probably due to fiberglass). Time minimized by having a spare eliminator on hand. 

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