Advanced disposal and recycling technologies of energetic materials

The review with 5 refs. Due to the redn. of armament between the East and West, we were met by new objectives: the disposal of energetic materials. Environmentally compatible disposal methods available for the different energetic materials are highly requested. From the tech. point of view recycling processes are generally available, but the market for recycled explosives is very limited. The possibilities of reprocessing propellants and explosives have to be reexamd. The most advanced disposal technol. is incineration. Rotary kiln as well as fluidized bed installations were successfully tested. The main problem on incineration remains the redn. of pollutant emission below the legal limits. Chem. decompn. of explosive materials followed by biol. degrdn. of the reaction mixt. offers an attractive alternative to incineration processes. The initial chem. step delivers a biodegradable reaction mixt. The combined chem./biol. process was successfully tested with NC based gun propellants. App lication tests with other explosives are in progress. For toxic and hazardous components of pyrotech. ammunition supercrit. water oxidn. (SCWO) was applied. Esp. chloro org. compds. can be destroyed in an environmental friendly way by SCWO-technol.