The Chemical Characterization of Pollutants in Waste Water from Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant.

Abstract

This report describes a characterization study of pollutants in waste water generated in manufacture of TNT (Trinitrotoluene) at Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant in Tennessee. The major portion of the study was devoted to separation and identification of dissolved species and estimation of the concentrations of identified components. Inorganic pollutants were identified and estimated by spark source mass spectrometry and conventional wet chemical techniques. Organic pollutants were extracted from the waste waters with methylene chloride and the extracts were characterized by means of classified and multi-development thin-layer chromatography, gas chromatography, infrared spectrophotometry, mass spectrometry, and tandem gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The waste waters were shown to be exceedingly complex mixtures of nitroaromatic compounds derived from the TNT manufacturing process and heavy metal ions leached from the stainless steel reaction vessels. The concentration levels of many of the inorganic pollutants in the waste waters discharged into public waters exceed the concentrations permitted by federal and state environmental pollution standards.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1981
Accession Number
ADA105705

Entities

People

  • C. Campbell
  • C. Ribaudo
  • S. Bulusu
  • Tianyue Chen
  • W. Fisco

Organizations

  • United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Biomedical
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Alkanes
  • Ammunition
  • Chemical Analysis
  • Chromatographs
  • Detectors
  • Environmental Pollution
  • Gas Chromatography
  • Liquid Chromatography
  • Mass Spectra
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Organic Compounds
  • Spectrometry
  • Standards
  • Thin Layer Chromatography
  • Waste Water

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Agricultural Chemistry/Soil Science
  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Environmental Engineering.