Analysis of Engineering Design Studies for Demilitarization of Assembled Chemical Weapons at Pueblo Chemical Depot (2001) / Chapter Skim
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4. Parsons/Honeywell Technology Package
4. Parsons/Honeywell Technology Package
Pages 49-70
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From page 49... ...
Catalytic oxidation for cleansing process gas discharges from the plant and activated carbon filtration for some or all of the off-gas streams. A block flow diagram for the Parsons-Honeywell technology package is presented in Figure 4-1, and a detailed description of the package follows.
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From page 50... ...
so cn ~ o ~ o o C° C cn .
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From page 51... ...
Any residual mustard is removed from the agent cavity by washing with high-pressure water jets in the ROOM, and the washed bodies are sent to the rotary MPT. The spent wash solution from the projectile RWM is sent to the agent hydrolysis system.
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From page 52... ...
The settled material, anticipated to be 90 percent mustard, is removed and sent to the holding tank for agent concentrate in the toxic cubicle. The washed munitions, which are expected to have no more than 2 volume percent agent in the cavity, are delivered to a conveyor and moved through an airlock to the loading device of the rotary MPT.
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From page 53... ...
The product is pumped to an energetics hydrolysate storage tank and then fed to the bioreactors. Off-gases from the reactor are sent to the quench tower for the rotary MPT.
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From page 54... ...
Biological Treatment In the Parsons/Honeywell biotreatment system (shown in Figure 4-4) , the agent and energetics hydrolysates are combined and diluted with water, mixed with inorganic nutrients, and fed to the ICBs (immobilized-cell bioreactors)
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From page 55... ...
and sent to the MPT quench tower, which the batch MPT shares with the rotary MPT. In the quench tower, the vent gas is contacted with a recirculating alkaline brine solution; the resultant noncondensable vent gases are sent to the MPT off-gas treatment CATOX unit.
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From page 56... ...
and having a capacity of 94,000 Btu/hr and a residence time of 0.5 seconds. Rotary Metal Parts Treater The rotary MPT receives munition bodies from the projectile RWM and treats them to a 5X decontamination level.
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From page 57... ...
Burchett, Parsons representative, personal communication, March 2, 2001~. Process gases vented from the rotary MPT, batch MPT, ERD, and various process tanks are sent to the MPT quench tower, from which they are passed in series through a flame arrestor, a preheater, a CATOX unit, and a water-cooled heat exchanger.
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From page 58... ...
Other nonprocess waste streams include waste oils and spent hydraulic fluids, which, if contaminated with agent, might be treated in the hydrolyzer and bioreactor systems. Spent activated carbon might be treated in the CST.
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From page 59... ...
using granular activated carbon (Parsons reported that low levels of dioxins and furans were formed in the CST during processing of DPE suits [K. Burchett, Parsons representative, personal communication, December 27, 20001)
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From page 60... ...
Agent Hydrolysis Reactors Six reactors hydrolyze agent drained from the WMDM, the agent concentrate from the projectile RWMs, and agent in spent decontamination solutions. The hydrolyzers are also used to destroy any agent detected in the MPT/CST condensate.
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From page 61... ...
cess. Biological Treatment Parsons/Honeywell proposes using modules of parallel ICB units to biodegrade the organic constituents in agent and energetics hydrolysates and MPT/CST condensate, followed by catalytic oxidation of gaseous effluents and recovery of water and dried solids from liquid effluents by evaporation/crystallization.
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From page 62... ...
Metal Parts Treatment Batch Metal Parts Treater The batch MPT processes deactivate fuzes, booster cups, nose-closure cups, lifting lugs, and miscellaneous parts from the ERD, as well as burster tubes from the BWM and burster wells from the WMDM. The interior of the vessel is swept with superheated steam at slightly below atmospheric pressure from a superheater with time and temperature conditions designed to meet the 5X decontamination requirements.
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From page 63... ...
Because the hydrolysates fed to the ICBs are tested to ensure that they are free of agent, it is reasonable to assume that carbon filters will not be necessary to capture unconverted agent from the ICB-fed CATOX units. However, trace pollutants could be generated by the oxidation of volatile organic compounds in the ICE vent gas.
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From page 64... ...
Handling failed burster pulls at the WMDM cutting station and accessing residual agent for washout by the projectile RWM involve metal-cutting operations that have not been defined at this stage, but the associated temperature, pressure, and explosion hazards are expected to be in an acceptable range. The CATOX units operate at 425°C (797°F)
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From page 65... ...
If a process upset occurs requiring an emergency shut down, the products of incomplete hydrolysis in the agent and energetics hydrolysis reactors will be extremely hazard ous. The ERD, rotary MPT, batch MPT, CST, and CATOX units will be decontaminated through a time-at-temperature process, but a forced shutdown might not result in complete decontamination.
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From page 66... ...
All other gaseous effluent will pass through both CATOX units and activated carbon filters. The gas composition will have to be determined in detail during initial trials.
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From page 67... ...
Experimental testing on the materials selected must be carried out to verify choices. Continuous Steam Treater The efficacy of using activated carbon for the aggregate must be verified, and any detrimental side effects must be identified and taken into account in the design.
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From page 68... ...
PM-1. The Parsons/Honeywell design of the burster washout machine is relatively immature and should be demonstrated before it is incorporated into the final technology package.
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From page 69... ...
PM-9. Although the catalytic oxidation units have generally performed well in destroying volatile organic compounds, it has not yet been demonstrated that they can reduce pollutants in the vent gases from the continuous steam treater or metal parts treater to acceptable levels.
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From page 70... ...
PM-7. Results of the completed tests of engineering design studies should be carefully reviewed to ensure that activated carbon absorbers do not have to be added to the bioreactor catalytic oxidation units to achieve acceptable levels of dioxins and furans.
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