Treatment of HMX and RDX contamination
- Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
HMX and RDX are often found in the soil, groundwater, and surface waters at facilities where they are manufactured as the result of negligent disposal methods. The toxicity of these compounds and their degradation products has led to concern about their fate in the environment and the potential for human exposure. HMX and RDX are recalcitrant in the environment with low rates of biodegradation and photolysis. Several methods of treating contaminated soils and waters have been developed and studied. Many of these technologies (i.e., carbon adsorption, oxidation, and chemical treatment) have been developed to treat munition plant wastewaters that are contaminated with explosives. These methods need to be adapted to remediate contaminated water. Other technologies such as bioremediation and composting are being developed as methods of remediating HMX and RDX contamination in a solid matrix. This report describes and evaluates each of these technologies. This report also describes the processes which affect HMX and RDX in the environment. The major transformation processes of RDX and HMX in the environment are biodegradation and photolysis. A major factor affecting the transport and treatment of RDX and HMX in soil-water environments is their sorption and desorption to soil particles. Finally, this report draws conclusions as to which treatment methods are currently most suitable for the remediation of contaminated soils and waters.
- Research Organization:
- Amarillo National Resource Center for Plutonium, TX (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); USDOE Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC04-95AL85832
- OSTI ID:
- 587711
- Report Number(s):
- ANRCP-1998-2; ON: DE98004574; TRN: 98:009455
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Mar 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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