Treatment of M1 and M8 Propellant Hydrolysates with Immobilized Cell Bioreactors

Abstract : Chemical agents in bulk form and chemical weapons in assembled rockets and mortars are scheduled to be destroyed in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. Several technologies that include neutralization/biodegradation, supercritical water oxidation, and incineration have been selectively chosen to perform this task. Neutralization followed by biodegradation has been selected as the technology for the destruction of assembled chemical weapons by the Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment (ACWA) program for mustard containing munitions at the Pueblo Chemical Depot (PCD), Pueblo, CO. As part of the overall destruction, the propellants and explosives from the assembled rounds must also be destroyed. While explosives integral to the assembled round will be processed simultaneously with the munition payload, final disposition of the propellant associated with the chemical round has not been determined. Parsons/Honeywell, the proposed technology provider for PCD, has proposed that the propellants be destroyed in a process similar to that used for hydrolyzed mustard agent: caustic neutralization followed by biodegradation. This laboratory study represents the initial attempt at destroying MI and M8 hydrolyzed propellants using the same immobilized cell bioreactors and culture techniques. System performance was considered inadequate at meeting destruction goals under the operating conditions employed.