Destructive atomic mixing

TRW Systems, Inc., conducted a laboratory-scale incineration study for the U.S. Army from 1973 to 1975 (9). Eleven individual pesticide formulations and three mixed pesticide formulations containing six different active ingredients (chlordane, 2,4-D, DDT, dieldrin, lindane, and 2,4,5-T) were incinerated in a liquid injection incinerator. The experimental apparatus consisted of a fuel atomizer, combustion chamber, afterburner, quench chamber, and scrubber unit. Destruction efficiencies exceeded 99.99% for a minimum 0.4-s residence time at temperatures above 1000°C with 45 to 60% excess air. 

While there is a total chlorine compound mixing ratio in the stratosphere of approximately 3400 ppt, that for bromine gases is only 20 ppt (Figure 5.1). Remarkably, with 150 times less abundance than chlorine, bromine is approximately as important as chlorine in overall ozone destruction. Methyl bromide (CH3Br) constitutes about half the source of bromine in the stratosphere (see Section 2.5). The H-atom-containing bromine compounds, CH3Br, CH2Br2, and CHBr, release their Br almost immediately on entry into the stratosphere the... 

Reduction of ozone is greatly enhanced over the poles by a combination of extremely low temperatures, decreased transport and mixing, and the presence of polar stratospheric clouds that provide heterogeneous chemical pathways for the regeneration of atomic chlorine. The resulting rate of O3 destruction is much greater than the rate at which it can be naturally replenished. 

The explanation of the behavior which is ordinarily called rubbery lies in the huge number of possible conformations in elastomeric chains. When a copper wire is drawn, we soon come to weakening and eventual destruction of primary chemical bonds between Cu atoms. When a rubber band is drawn, rotations and other changes results in new conformations, but the primary bonds are preserved. This can be described as unkinking and straightening out of kinked and mixed up spaghetti-like elastomeric chains. 

---