The Biodegradation of TNT in Enhanced Soil and Compost Systems

Abstract

The ability of microorganisms to degrade TNT under a variety of conditions has been examined. A technique involving the degradation of TNT in soil which had been enhanced with additional nutrients was found to yield undesirable end products and to proceed at too slow a rate to be practical as a means of disposing of large quantities of TNT. A procedure using a composting technique was found to be acceptable in that resonably large quantities (up to 10% dry weight) of TNT could be degraded in a reasonable time and no detectable undesirable end products resulted. The composting process was examined in bench scale experiments using standard analytical procedures and also carbon-14 tracer methodology.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1978
Accession Number
ADA054375

Entities

People

  • C. C. Andrews
  • Jerry L. Osmon

Organizations

  • United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Counter IED
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Chemistry
  • Chromatographic Analysis
  • Chromatographs
  • Chromatography
  • Ecology
  • Engineers
  • Environment
  • Environmental Protection
  • Explosives
  • Hydroxides
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Testing
  • Microorganisms
  • Moisture Content
  • Organic Materials
  • Solid Waste
  • Test Methods

Readers

  • Agricultural Chemistry/Soil Science
  • Applied Combinatorial Optimization and Logic Circuit Design.