Detection, Analysis, and Reuse of Waste Streams Generated by Energetic Materials

Recent trends in the closure of military installations, requirements for the demilitarization and disposal of energetic materials and munitions, and environmental remediation obligations have produced a corresponding requirement for efficient processes which can detect the presence of energetic or explosive materials, extract them from the surrounding soil, air, or water, and modify or convert the waste material into a useful product or non-hazardous waste which can then be used or disposed of in an economically attractive manner. Chief among the obstacles to these processes is the wide variety of conditions under which they would be required to operate. Energetic material wastes might be distributed in surface soils; they might be given off as gaseous byproducts in energetic combustion processes; in many cases, bulk quantities of the energetic material might require conversion or modification prior to disposal. This paper proposes to develop a technically feasible process which is able to detect, extract, and convert energetic or explosive materials from both soil and combustion exhaust media.