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Alternative Technologies for the Destruction of Chemical Agents and Munitions (1993)

Chapter: U.S. CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION EXPERIENCE

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Suggested Citation:"U.S. CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION EXPERIENCE." National Research Council. 1993. Alternative Technologies for the Destruction of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2218.
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Page 54
Suggested Citation:"U.S. CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION EXPERIENCE." National Research Council. 1993. Alternative Technologies for the Destruction of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2218.
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Page 55
Suggested Citation:"U.S. CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION EXPERIENCE." National Research Council. 1993. Alternative Technologies for the Destruction of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2218.
×
Page 56
Suggested Citation:"U.S. CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION EXPERIENCE." National Research Council. 1993. Alternative Technologies for the Destruction of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2218.
×
Page 57
Suggested Citation:"U.S. CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION EXPERIENCE." National Research Council. 1993. Alternative Technologies for the Destruction of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2218.
×
Page 58
Suggested Citation:"U.S. CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION EXPERIENCE." National Research Council. 1993. Alternative Technologies for the Destruction of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2218.
×
Page 59
Suggested Citation:"U.S. CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION EXPERIENCE." National Research Council. 1993. Alternative Technologies for the Destruction of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2218.
×
Page 60
Suggested Citation:"U.S. CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION EXPERIENCE." National Research Council. 1993. Alternative Technologies for the Destruction of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2218.
×
Page 61

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U.S. AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION 54 3 U.S. and Foreign Experience with Chemical Weapons Destruction This chapter briefly reviews U.S. and foreign experience with the destruction of chemical weapons in Canada, Germany, Iraq, the former Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and United States. Such information provides one basis for the committee's analysis of alternative demilitarization technologies. U.S. CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION EXPERIENCE In 1969, a National Academy of Sciences report concluded that dumping at sea of chemical warfare agents or munitions should be avoided (NAS, 1969). Three years later, the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1992 (P.L. 92-532) prohibited ocean dumping of chemical agents. Since 1969, the United States has disposed of over 7,000 tons of chemical warfare agents by incineration and chemical neutralization (Tables 3-1 to 3-7). Early work was carried out at Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver, Colorado, with the incineration of nearly 3,100 tons of H (mustard) in a furnace that had been used to burn the rocket fuel hydrazine. Flue gases were scrubbed with alkali (NaOH) to trap acidic combustion products and then passed through an electrostatic precipitator to remove particulates, such as rust. Between 1973 and 1976, nearly 4,200 tons of GB (Satin) were destroyed by reaction with alkali (neutralization) mainly at Rocky Mountain Arsenal but partly in developmental work at Tooele Army Depot (TEAD) in Utah, at the Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System (CAMDS) facility. Problems were encountered at both sites, leading the Army to decide against neutralization as a major chemical demilitarization process: ''the rationale for abandoning neutralization was based on a number of factors: (1) the sheer complexity of the process (as compared to incineration...)..., (2) the quantity and nature of the waste that was produced, and (3) the high capital...and operating costs'' (Flamm et al., 1987). A perplexing but frequently observed and disconcerting feature of the tests was that even when presumed large excesses of alkali were

U.S. AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION 55 TABLE 3-1 U.S. Army Experience with Destruction of H (Mustard) by Incineration Destruction Method Characteristic Site Data Site Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Denver, Colo. Duration October 1969—July 1974 Amount 3,071 tons Form Bulk agent and minor components of filled munitions Process Agent burned in modified hydrazine furnace Metal parts Ton containers detoxified in ton container furnace Waste streams Furnace flue gases passed through scrubber and then electrostatic precipitator before stack discharge wastewater and scrubber brines were dried in spray dryer to salt, which was placed in a hazardous waste landfill meeting Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations Efficiency Data not available Monitoring Data not available Rate 2 gallons/minute (0.64 ton/hour), maximum Comments Early operations Source: Flamm et al. (1987).

U.S. AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION 56 TABLE 3-2 U.S. Army Experience with Destruction of GB (Sarin) by Neutralization Destruction Method Characteristic Site Data Site Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Denver, Colo.; CAMDS (TEAD, Utah) Duration October 1973—November 1976 Separation Munitions disassembled and liquid GB drained and stored in tank Amount 4,188 tons Form Bulk storage in tanks and filled munitions Process GB mixed with caustic (NaOH) solution in water; spontaneous reaction caused heat evolution Metal parts Drained munitions were rinsed with caustic, mechanically cut, and passed through incinerator furnace (those containing explosive put through a special deactivation furnace that could withstand explosions) Waste streams Neutralization and scrubber brines and wastewater from equipment washdown evaporated in spray or drum dryer to salt, which was placed in RCRA hazardous waste landfill; ventilation air and incinerator flue gases passed through scrubber Efficiency Apparently inadequate (analyses showed minute amounts of GB in the brines after supposed end of reaction. In addition, spray dryer emissqions contained trace quantities of agent in the early operating time; see comment below) Rate Data not available Comments Brine analysis indicated that GB destruction was not quite complete and that some reaction batches took weeks to arrive at zero GB assay; subsequent research suggests residual GB could have been an artifact of the method of assay Source: Flamm et al. (1987).

U.S. AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION 57 TABLE 3-3 U.S. Army Experience with Destruction of GB (Sarin) by Incineration, at CAMDS Destruction Method Characteristic Site Data Site CAMDS (TEAD, UT) Duration April 1981—August 1986 Amount 38 tons Form Ton containers, drained projectiles and M55 rockets, and undrained 155-mm projectiles Process Agent pumped from tanks into a furnace (some into metal parts furnace, most into liquid incinerator) and burned Metal parts Drained projectiles and M55 rockets conveyed into metal parts furnace or deactivation furnace system and heated to about 890°C Waste streams Furnace flue gases passed through scrubber and then demister; stack discharge wastewater and scrubber brines dried in a drum dryer to salt, which was placed in landfill Efficiency >99.9999995% Monitoring <0.00006 mg/m3 Rate 500 lbs (0.25 ton) per hour, maximum Comments Testing of CAMDS system Source: Flamm et al. (1987).

U.S. AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION 58 TABLE 3-4 U.S. Army Experience with Destruction of GB (Sarin) by Incineration, at JACADS Destruction Method Characteristic Site Data Site JACADS (Johnston Island) Duration October 31-November 14, 1991 Amount 40 tons Form M55 rockets Process Rockets are disassembled, agent drained and incinerated Metal parts Deactivated in metal parts furnace Waste streams Furnace flue gases passed through quench, venturi, scrubber, and then demister, stack discharge wastewater and pollution abatement system brines disposed of through two mechanisms: deep-well injection and drying in a drum dryer to salt, which was placed in landfill Efficiency >99.99999% Monitoring <0.00006 mg/m3. Continuous monitoring for GB, CO, O2, NOx , and SO2; intermittent monitoring for HCl, particulates, trace metals, volatile and semivolatile products of incomplete combustion, tetrachlorodibenzodioxins (TCDDs), tetrachlorodibenzofurans (TCDFs), and total hydrocarbons Rate 750 lbs (0.38 ton) per hour Comments Destruction during Operation Verification Test (OVT) One Source: Baronian and Wojciechowski (1992).

U.S. AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION 59 TABLE 3-5 U.S. Army Experience with Destruction of VX by Incineration, at CAMDS Destruction Method Characteristic Site Data Site CAMDS (TEAD, UT) Duration June—August, 1984 Amount 8 tons Form Ton containers Process VX drained from tanks, pumped into metal parts furnace system, and burned mainly with either fuel oil or liquified petroleum gas Metal parts Data not available Waste streams Furnace flue gases passed through scrubber and then demister; stack discharge wastewater and scrubber brines dried in a drum dryer to salt, which was placed in landfill Efficiency >99.9999998% Monitoring <0.003 mg/m3. Continuous monitoring for VX, CO, O2, NOx , SO2, and CO2 ; intermittent monitoring for HCl, particulates, trace metals, volatile and semivolatile products of incomplete combustion Rate 400 lbs (0.2 ton) per hour Comments Same methods used as for incineration of GB Source: Flamm et al. (1987).

U.S. AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION 60 TABLE 3-6 U.S. Army Experience with Destruction of VX by Incineration, at JACADS Destruction Method Characteristic Site Data Site JACADS (Johnston Island) Duration October 31-March 5, 1992 Amount 54 tons Form M55 rockets Process Rockets disassembled, agent drained and incinerated Metal parts Deactivated in metal parts furnace Waste streams Furnace flue gases passed through pollution abatement system quench, venturi, scrubber, and then demister; stack discharge wastewater and brines disposed of through two mechanisms: deep-well injection and drying in a drum dryer to salt, which was placed in a landfill Efficiency 99.999999% Monitoring <0.00006 mg/m3. Continuous monitoring for VX, CO, O2, NOx, and SO2; intermittent monitoring for HCl, particulates, trace metals, volatile and semivolatile products of incomplete combustion, TCDDs, TCDFs, and total hydrocarbon Rate 30.2 rockets (containing a total of 0.15 ton of agent) per hour, during up time; feed rate to the liquid incinerator was 699 lbs per hour Comments Destruction during OVT Two Source: Wojciechowski (1992).

U.S. AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION 61 TABLE 3-7 U.S. Army Experience with Destruction of HD by Incineration, at JACADS Destruction Method Characteristic Site Data Site JACADS (Johnston Island) Duration August 3-September 5, 1992 Amount 56.5 tons Form Ton containers Process Ton containers are drained and agent incinerated Metal parts Deactivated in metal parts furnace Waste streams Furnace flue gases passed through quench, venturi, scrubber, and then demister, stack discharge wastewater and pollution abatement brines dried in drum dryers to salt, which was placed in a landfill Efficiency >99.99995% Monitoring <0.008 mg/m3 Rate 1,076 lbs an hour Comments Destruction during OVT Three Source: Evans (1993).

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The U.S. Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program was established with the goal of destroying the nation's stockpile of lethal unitary chemical weapons. Since 1990 the U.S. Army has been testing a baseline incineration technology on Johnston Island in the southern Pacific Ocean. Under the planned disposal program, this baseline technology will be imported in the mid to late 1990s to continental United States disposal facilities; construction will include eight stockpile storage sites.

In early 1992 the Committee on Alternative Chemical Demilitarization Technologies was formed by the National Research Council to investigate potential alternatives to the baseline technology. This book, the result of its investigation, addresses the use of alternative destruction technologies to replace, partly or wholly, or to be used in addition to the baseline technology. The book considers principal technologies that might be applied to the disposal program, strategies that might be used to manage the stockpile, and combinations of technologies that might be employed.

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