Reuse of Nitrocellulose-Based Propellants in Industrial Processes

The DoD is faced with a large and growing inventory of surplus and obsolete propellants, currently in excess of 75,000 short tons. Environmental restrictions are significantly increasing incineration costs, with prohibition a potential occurrence. A need exists to develop an environmentally acceptable means of disposal. High temperature industrial processes offer one such opportunity. TPL is active in the demilitarization of explosives and propellants for both commercial and military applications. Concurrently, TPL is developing industrial processes which employ propellants as a fast release, gas source. This expertise provides the capability to develop an industrial process use for surplus propellants. Potential industrial processes will be identified and requirements compiled. Related end use properties of surplus propellants will be determined and matched with possible applications. Critical issues regarding the specific end use will be defined. Feasibility experiments to evaluate these issues will be pperformed. Alternate uses will be evaluated. Phase II recommendations will be formulated.