Propellant Reuse/Recovery Technology

Abstract

Due primarily to changes in weapon systems, the military has stocks of chemically acceptable propellants which are obsolete. Past disposal practices have been to incinerate or open-burn these stocks; however, extensive research has been conducted in the past at the Radford Army Ammunition plant (RAAP) for the reclamation/reuse of solvent-based obsolete propellants. A literature review indicated that resolvation of propellant and recovery of selected ingredients from propellant via solvent extraction were the optimal reclamation technologies. This study was conducted in order to demonstrate the feasibility of these technologies. The propellant resolvation studies consisted of both laboratory and bench-scale evaluations; furthermore, appropriate hazards analyses of the procedures and equipment used in the evaluations were performed by the RAAP Hazards Analysis Department. Several operating parameters were assessed including resolvation time, propellant/solvent ratio, solvent/solvent ratio, and propellant particle size. Keywords: Obsolete propellants, Propellant recovery/Reuse, Propellant reclamation, Solvent extraction, Propellant resolvation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 31, 1988
Accession Number
ADA206306

Entities

People

  • Armand A. Balasco
  • C. A. Jake
  • L. H. Mcdaniel
  • L.l. Smith
  • M. L. Hundley
  • R. C. Bowen

Organizations

  • Arthur D. Little

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Chemical Analysis
  • Chemistry
  • Double Base Propellants
  • Liquid Chromatography
  • Liquid Explosives
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Materials Testing
  • Particles
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Production Engineering
  • Propellants
  • Risk Analysis
  • Solvent Extraction
  • Triple Base Propellants

Readers

  • Agricultural Chemistry/Soil Science
  • Environmental Engineering.
  • Rocket Propulsion.