부산대학교 도서관

The experimental work done on the destruction of the liquid gun propellant XM-46 (or LGP-1846) using the Molten Salt Destruction (MSD) Process at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for the US Army is described in this report. The current methods of disposal of large quantities of high explosives (HE), propellants and wastes containing energetic materials by open burning or open detonation (OB/OD), or by incineration, are becoming undesirable. LLNL is developing MSD as an alternative to OB/OD and incineration of energetic materials. A series of 18 continuous experimental runs were made wherein a solution of XM-46 and water was injected into a bed of molten salt comprising the carbonates of sodium, potassium and lithium, along with air. The results from these experiments, described in detail in the main body of this report, show that: XM-46 can be safely and completely destroyed in a bed of molten salt at temperatures well below those needed for incineration. Under optimum operating conditions, less than 1% of the chemically bound nitrogen in the XM-46 is converted to NO{sub x}, and less than 1% carbon is converted to CO. There exist, however, a number of technical uncertainties: We need to understand better why nitrates build up in the salt bath, and what we can do to reduce this amount. We need to understand the mechanism of XM-46 oxidation and ways to minimize the formation of CO and NO{sub x}. In addition, we would like to find out ways by which a more concentrated solution of XM-46 can be introduced into the reactor, so as to increase the throughputs.