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THERMAL TREATMENT AND PREPROCESSING AND POSTPROCESSING OPERATIONS 96 complete replacement of the currently designed incinerator and pollution abatement system might well be required.'' Mechanical Disassembly of Explosives, Propellants, and Solidified Agent The baseline reverse assembly process punches and drains chemical agent from the M55 rockets but does not separate the explosives and propellants from the contaminated metal parts. If explosives or propellants are left in place, any subsequent process must be able to withstand potential explosions of these components. In artillery projectiles and mines, explosives are removed and the agent is then drained. Ton containers are punched and drained; however, mustard gels and solids sometimes adhere inside the containers. Similar problems are presented in many other weapon demilitarization programs in which used explosives and propellants must be removed to avoid explosive conditions. The methods used in these programs to remove explosives and propellants from missile casings do add a data base that could be further developed if needed. For example, one such method uses a high-velocity water jet to break the explosives and propellants into small pieces that are then flushed from the system by the returning water stream (Fossey et al., 1991). This method is of interest because some of the alternative technologies can process slurried energetics (a watery mixture) and because it might be used to remove undrained agent. In this method, a high-pressure pump, operating near 15,000 psi, feeds a jet nozzle located on the end of a moveable lance. The lance is inserted into the open end of a rocket casing and is rotated to direct the high- velocity water jet to the surfaces of the propellant, causing it to break into small pieces, which are flushed from the system. Considerable work has been done on critical water velocities (high-velocity water jets have sometimes added too much energy, inadvertently igniting the explosive), the best water jet angles, the resultant forces acting on the lance, and the degrees of freedom in aiming the jet with existing equipment. Such an application of a water jet would result, in most cases, in water contaminated with agent that would need to be handled accordingly. In some circumstances, use of decontamination solution instead of water might be used to achieve decontamination of the remaining metal parts and containers and would reduce the problems of dealing with water contaminated with agent.
