Oxidation Chemistry of Energetic Materials in Supercritical Water

Abstract

The destruction of explosives and rocket fuel components by oxidation in supercritical water is described. The focus is on the major technical issues that must be resolved to make a disposal process practical. These issues include the chemistry of the process and methods for high-throughput processing of the target waste. The destruction efficiencies, the products of reaction contained in the reactor effluents, and methods for achieving high-throughput destruction of several representative explosives and propellant components are reported.