Development of an Air-Transportable, Rapid Production, Mixed Base Hydrogen Peroxide System

The Missile Defense Agency of the DoD needs to develop a system for the rapid production of mixed-base hydrogen peroxide (MHP). MHP, a key reagent used in chemical oxygen iodine lasers (COIL), is produced by blending two or more concentrated causticssolutions (LiOH, NaOH, and KOH) with hydrogen peroxide. The production system must be air-transportable, be configured for rapid setup on site, and be capable of producing 3000 kg MHP in a three-hour period. In addition, the components have to be cooledto around 0oC prior to blending, and the product maintained at -15oC. Challenges include provision of easily addressable automatic controls to blend the components in any desired sequence, and achieving a blend accuracy of 0.5 percent by weight. Thislatter requirement is complicated by variations in composition and temperature of the stored feedstock. Another challenge is to design the heat exchangers to meet the rapid cooling duty, especially for the concentrated caustic solutions that have poorheat transfer characteristics. Finally, all the solutions are hazardous and corrosive, so particular attention must be paid to the selection of materials of construction, provision of vented storage tanks with secondary containment, explosion-proofelectromechanicals, redundant key equipment, and emergency facilities. (P-020647) The automatic controls and associated software system for achieving the high blend accuracy and the heat exchangers developed for viscous, low heat transfer liquids will find application in the polymer, petroleum, and organic synthesis industries.