Primary Destruction Technologies

This discussion is divided into four areas of study for energetic materials (EM) destruction primary destruction technologies waste preparation and feeding cost estimates and recycling. The discussion below summarizes the results of the projects conducted within these four areas. 

Five separate destruction technologies were tested for the destruction of waste HMX and PBX high explosives (HE). Since incineration is the baseline technology, a series of tests was conducted at a commercial two-stage, fixed-hearth incinerator. Destruction by molten salt injection was tested at LLNL. The last three destruction techniques are based on a base hydrolysis (BH) explosive pretreatment to produce a nonexplosive solution for further treatment. Three secondary treatments for BH were tested, including hydrothermal, biodegradation, and thermal decomposition. BH and hydrothermal techniques were tested at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and LLNL tested biological and thermal decomposition. 

Incineration The explosives incineration testing was performed by Aerojet-General Corporation in Sacramento, California. 

The purpose of the testing was to determine the feasibility for disposal of PBXs with HMX explosive and Viton-A binder in a full-scale, dualchamber, fixed-hearth incinerator. A test combustor, or small-scale incinerator, was used for this purpose. A total of 125 lb of LX-04 and LX-10 explosives were combusted in the testing. 

Results were favorable overall. Emissions data collected suggest that the material could be fed to the full-scale incinerator at a rate of 400 lb feed/hr (200 lb explosives/hr). NOx emissions were higher than expected and could be a limit to throughput. Additional testing at full scale over long periods of time would be required to determine whether NOx production is truly a problem. 

---

Technology Description Infrared radiators can be used as the heat source in the destruction of hazardous waste. This system (Figure 35) is made up of a primary chamber consisting of a rectangular carbon steel box lined with layers of a light weight. 

Has the technology been permitted or otherwise approved in the U.S. for industrial wastes The technology has not been permitted or otherwise approved in die U.S. for industrial wastes. Incineration has been permitted many times in die U.S. for the destruction of industrial wastes. It is a primary technology used to treat most organic industrial wastes in the U.S. Neutralization and hydrolysis have been permitted or otherwise approved for use in the U.S. for industrial waste treatment. 

Other configurations of treatment processes using thermal desorption as the primary separation technique can be applied to organically contaminated soils. Alternative physical/chemical processes can be used to treat the desorber off-gas and the contaminants. To achieve complete contaminant destruction, the off-gas can be treated by using conventional fume incineration or other thermal treatment technology. The choice of the type of desorber and off-gas treatment system depends on the concentration and properties of the chemical contaminants, soil characteristics, quantity of contaminated material, site characteristics, availability of off-site disposal, and regulatory and related requirements. 

Selection of a treatment technology must consider many factors. The report Review of International Technologies for Destruction ofRecovered Chemical Warfare Materiel (International Technologies report) developed six primary factors for evaluation (NRC, 2006) ... 

General Finding 1. The chemistries of all four of the primary technologies (hydrolysis, SILVER II, plasma arc, and SET), as proposed, can decompose the chemical agents with destruction efficiencies of 99.9999 percent. However, each technology package raises other technical issues that must be resolved. One of the crucial issues is the identity and disposition of by-products [from the chemical agents]. 

A list of controlled substances will depend on their toxicity and stability in the environment, technological processes of destruction and utilisation and may be definitely determined only after preliminary laboratory studies on the primary means of WA migration and transformation and establishment of their main transformation products. 

The primary approach used in this report is to evaluate the ability of alternative technologies to process EDS liquid waste streams and to examine the extent to which the different compositions of the MMD and EDS liquid waste streams might alter the committee s earlier recommendations on technologies for their destruction. These recommendations are also reconsidered in light of the most recent technology testing results. 

The destruction of the First World War produced a violent reaction in the worlds of literature and art. Formed in Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916, the Dada movement rejected not only the political institutions and technologies that had sown destruction on such a vast scale, but also the social institutions that defined the bourgeois world and that had led to war. Art itself was their primary target. Led by the Franco-Romanian poet Tristan Tzara (pseudonym of Samuel Rosenstock), the Dadaists issued manifestos that in their absurdity punctured the aura of seriousness that... 

Phytoengineering. Phytoengineering technologies rely on plants as primary ecosystem providers. Designs and processes are coordinated for wastewater treatment, environmental remediation, wedands remediation, and sustainable processes for industry, agriculture, and urban communities. Traditional biotechnologies favored the removal or destruction of contaminated soils. Phytoremediation is a successful in situ alternative. Plants work with contaminated soils to decompose toxins, accumulate chemical wastes, and create nutrient-rich composting materials. 

---