Modeling RDX Reduction within Iron Bed Reactors

Abstract : Iron has been used to reduce organic contaminants including high explosives (HE) such as Research Department Explosive (RDX). Work is ongoing at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) to develop guidelines for using iron bed reactors to remove RDX in surface water runoff from the impact areas of firing ranges. As part of this work, a mathematical model was developed to gain a better understanding of the experimental results and to provide information for design and operation of these reactors. This model and its application results are described within this technical note (TN). Following additional validation against field data, this model will be implemented within the Training Range Environmental Evaluation and Characterization System (TREECS ) (http://el.erdc.usace. army.mil/treecs/). TREECS was developed by ERDC for the Army with varying levels of capability to forecast the fate of munitions constituents (MC), such as HE and metals, within and transported from firing/training ranges to surface water and groundwater. The overall purpose of TREECS is to provide environmental specialists with tools to assess the potential for MC migration into surface water and groundwater systems and to assess range management strategies to ensure protection of human health and the environment. Although TREECS was developed to forecast the fate of MC on firing ranges, it has general applicability to many other situations requiring prediction of contaminant fate in multi-media environmental systems.