Open detonation

Alternatives to Open Burning Open Detonation of Propellants andExplosives, CPIA PubHcation 540, CPIA, Laurel, Md., Mar. 1990. 

Plain detonator. An open detonator with no means of ignition attached. 

Thermal processes like pyrolysis use heat to increase the volatility (separation) to burn, decompose, or detonate (destruction) or to melt (immobilization) contaminants in soil. Separation technologies include thermal desorption and hot gas decontamination. Destruction technologies include incineration, open bum/open detonation, and pyrolysis. Vitrification is used to immobilize inorganic compounds and to destroy some organic materials. In contrast, pyrolysis transforms... 

The contamination of the environment by explosives, especially by nitroesters and nitroaromatics (NACs), is a worldwide environmental problem since enormous amounts of these compounds were produced during World War I and II. Most contaminated sites are located at ammunition factories and other places where these compounds were handled. This involved open detonation and burning of explosives at army depots, evaluation facilities, artillery ranges, and ordnance disposal sites (Rodgers and Bunce, 2001). 

ICI Explosives Environmental Company (ICIEEC) has developed a rotary kiln incinerator for the treatment of explosives and other hazardons wastes. The purpose of the technology is to offer an alternative to open detonation for remediating materials contaminated with explosives and reactive materials. The ICIEEC facility in loplin, Missouri, is the only commercial incinerator in the United States that regnlarly accepts U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Hazard Class 1.1 materials. The technology is commercially available. 

Offers greater control over emissions then open bnming/open detonation. 

The detonation velocity of an explosive or blasting agent in a container such as a borehole in contrast to detonating in the open (-> Detonation Velocity). 

Ammonium perchlorate s manufacture and use in a variety of explosives, as well as its presence in some nitrate fertilizers, has resulted in its release to the environment. Perchlorate dust can be suspended in the air and inhaled by individuals working in perchlorate manufacturing facilities. In addition, open detonation of explosive materials or open burning of perchlorate-containing materials can result in the release of perchlorate in air. Perchlorate may also be found in soil, particularly where perchlorate-containing fertilizer has been applied, or where perchlorate-containing water is used for irrigation. 

Most other countries respond to this scenario by open detonation of the unstable CWM using at least 5 pounds of explosive for each pound of chemical agent.14 In this situation, it is hoped that the high detonation temperature of the donor explosive will consume a large portion of the chemical fill. Some countries employ considerably larger amounts of explosive in an attempt to maximize the destruction of the agent fill. However, such a solution is considered by the... 

One program is the ongoing effort by the Department of Defense (DOD) to demilitarize unneeded portions of its massive stockpile of ammunition and explosives. The trend is away from open buming/open detonation (OB/OD) and toward new demilitarization technologies allowing resource recovery and recycling. The second program is the remediation of ordnance and explosives waste (OEW) from both active and formerly used defense sites (FUDS). 

Many DOD sites are contaminated with explosive waste as a result of explosives manufacturing munitions load, assemble, and pack operations explosives machining, casting, and curing open bum and open detonation operations and laboratory testing of munitions. Based on the experience of the U.S. Army Environmental Center (AEC) of DOD, one of the major explosive wastes of concern at DOD sites are residues from land disposal of explosives-contaminated process water. 

Contaminated Media Soil, surface, and groundwater have been contaminated with explosive compounds and their decomposition products. Metal fragments are also widely spread in open bum/open detonation areas and on bombing/firing ranges. In many cases, the area that has been contaminated with explosive and metal debris is very extensive. Time and cost for restoration are considerable. Prior to reuse of the area and to protect resources from contamination, areas where these contaminants exist must be remediated. Advanced technologies are needed to identify areas of contamination in a more cost effective and accelerated manner and to remediate soils in situ without excavation and the resulting environmental destruction. 

Rocket Motor and Fuel Disposal With the reduction of military forces in the United States and worldwide, rocket motors are being removed from service and reduced in number. The motors are being shipped to munitions depots for storage and for disposal. The disposal method presently used is open bum/open detonation, which can result in explosions that scatter motor parts and contaminate the environment with unbumed propellant. An effective and environmentally sound alternative to open bum/open detonation is required. 

A pilot-scale treatability study was conducted using white rot fungus at a former ordnance open bum/open detonation area at Site D, Naval Submarine Base, Bangor, Washington. Initial TNT concentrations of 1,844 ppm were degraded to 1,267 ppm in 30 days and 1,087 in 120 days. The overall degradation was 41%, and final TNT soil levels were well above the proposed cleanup level of 30 ppm (Spectrum Sciences Software, Inc., and Utah State University, no date). 

Open bum (OB) and open detonation (OD) operations are conducted by DOD and some private companies to destroy unserviceable, unstable, or unusable munitions and explosives materials. In OB operations, explosives or munitions are destroyed by self-sustained combustion, which is ignited by an external source, such as flame, heat, or a detonation wave (that does not result in a detonation). In OD operations, detonable explosives and munitions are destroyed by a detonation, which is initiated by the detonation of a disposal charge. 

Stockpiled Materiel in Magazine One traditional treatment method for demilitarization of conventional ordnance is open bum/open detonation. Incomplete destruction may produce unacceptable air emissions and contaminate soil and water resources (surface and groundwater). An innovative technology to eliminate open burn/open detonation is needed. 

A problem is also associated with abandoned open bum/open detonation areas at which neutralization and demilitarization were carried out in the past without stringent environmental controls. The debris remaining in these areas can pose both explosive and toxic chemical threats. A need exists for the adaptation of present methods of soil cleaning (which are typically applied to the removal of hydrocarbon or heavy-metal contamination from soil) and development of new approaches to address the problem of removing specific explosive and toxic compounds from soils. Such approaches could be applied both to the remediation of abandoned open burn/open detonation sites and to that of other areas (including... 

Rocket motor and fuel disposal (open bum/open detonation)... 

Castle Air Force Base, California FY 1995 Air Force base closure. Open bum/open detonation area. Research and development and applied technology testing-demonstration for contaminated media and subsurface unexploded ordnance detection, identification, and remediation in an uncontrolled test environment. This would also be a DOIT Committee process demonstration site. 

Checkai RT et al., Transport and Fate of Nitroaromatic and Nitramine Explosives in Soils from Open Burning Open Detonation Operations at Anniston Army Depot, ERDEC-TR-135, Edgewood Research Development and Engineering Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, 1993. 

In the recent past most lithium batteries were either put into a landfill or incinerated. Many of the larger lithium primary systems had no known method of disposal, much less recycling. The older large primary lithium batteries were, many times, so reactive that open detonation was used as an effective disposal method. 

Open burning/open detonation (OB/OD) has been the traditional method of disposing of unstable munitions, including chemical munitions, but OB/OD is no longer considered acceptable for NSCWM by regulators except in emergencies. The Army has been exploring an alternative to OB/OD called the tent-and-foam system, which provides for partially contained detonation of unstable munitions. 

Open burning/open detonation (OB/OD) Historic blow-in-place method for destroying dangerous munitions... 

The Donovan blast chamber (DBC) was developed and is manufactured by DeMil International, Inc., of Huntsville, Alabama (DeMil International, 2001). The DBC was originally developed to replace conventional open detonation operations in a contained environment that prevents the release of blast fragments, heavy metals, and energetic byproducts. It was later proposed that the DBC could be used to destroy CWM by detonation in its enclosed environment. 

Historically, open detonation has been used to destroy this type of recovered munition. More recently, however, the public and regulators generally have begun to consider open detonation of CWM unacceptable. One way to deal with such situations is to detonate the object in an enclosure such as the tent-and-foam system described in Chapter 2. The NSCMP has already performed some limited tests on this system to mitigate the environmental impact of open detonation. 

The committee believes that development and testing of the tent-and-foam system shonld be completed to fnlfill the needs of PMNSCM for this disposal category. In light of the expectation that the tent-and-foam system will rednce the amount of agent contamination released from the in-place disposal of a CW mnnition by detonation, there is no disposal scenario foreseen that wonld reqnire conventional open detonation of CW mnnitions, except for expedient CWM disposal in wartime under battlefield conditions. 

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