Extraction of TNT from aggregate soil fractions.
Past explosives manufacture, disposal, and training activities have contaminated soil at many military facilities, posing health and environmental risks through contact, potential detonation, and leaching into ground water. While methods have been confirmed for extraction and measuring explosives concentration in soil, no work has addressed aggregate size material (the >2 mm gravel and cobbles) that often occurs with the smaller soil fractions. This paper describes methods and results for extraction and measurement of TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) in aggregate material from 1/2 to 2-1/1 from a WWII era ammunition plant. TNT was extracted into acetonitrile by both Soxhlet and ultrasonic extraction methods. High pressure liquid chromatography analyses of extracts showed expected variation among samples. Also effective extraction and determination of TNT concentration for each aggregate size fraction was achieved.
Mammalian Toxicity of Munitions Compounds. Phase I. Acute Oral Toxicity, Primary Skin and Eye Irritation, Dermal Sensitization, Disposition and Metabolism and Ames Tests of Additional Compounds
Abstract : Tests indicated that 3,5-Dinitrotoluene (3,5-DNT) was the most potent of all DNT isomers in oral acute doses to rats and mice. 2-Amino-4, 6-DNT (2- ADNT) and its isomer, 4-ADNT, were the least potent in rats and female mice, and comparable to 2,3-DNT and 2,4-DNT in male mice. 3.5-DNT and 4-ADNT were not irritating to rabbit skin; 2-ADNT was a mild irritant. All three compounds were not irritating to rabbit eyes and not sensitizing to guinea pigs. 3,5-DNT and 4- ADNT were absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, metabolized and excreted in the urine. In the Ames test, 1,3-dinitroglycerin (1,3-DNG), 1-mononitroglycerin (1-MNG), nitrocellulose and white phosphorus were not mutagenic. Trinitrotoluene (TNT) 2,4-DNT, 2,5-DNT, tetranitromethane (TNM) and 1,2-DNG were mutagenic at 10 to 30 microgram/plate in one or more strains. TNM was bactericidal without activation. 1,2-DNG was nonmutagenic with activation. 2,3-DNT, 2,6-DNT, 3,5-DNT, trinitroglycerin and 2-MNG were weakly mutagenic, with mutagenic results at 100 or 1,000 microgram/plate in one or more strains.
Ignition and burning rates of segregated waste combustion in packed beds.
Recent developments in national recycling and re-use programmes for municipal waste have led to segregation of an increasing proportion of waste to enhance material recovery. Several of the segregated streams contain materials that can not viably be re-used or recycled but can be used for energy recovery. In this study, the combustion of cardboard and waste wood was investigated in a small-scale packed bed reactor in order to provide fundamental data for the design/operation of moving bed furnaces. Key parameters of combustion including the ignition and burning rates were evaluated for various air flowrates and compared to the modelling results. Two successive stages of combustion were identified for both samples: the propagation of ignition front into the bed and combustion of the fuel above the ignition front. The burning rate of cardboard reached a peak of about 300 kg/m(2)h at the air flowrate of 936 kg/m(2)h and decreased at higher air flowrates. For waste wood, both the ignition and burning rates increased in the tested range of the air flowrate up to 702 kg/m(2)h, of which the values were very close to those for the cardboard. The model prediction was in good agreement with the test results for waste wood. However, the burning rate for cardboard was under-predicted due to strongly irregular shapes of the fuel.