Universal Oxidation for CBW Decontamination: L-Gel System Development and Deployment
The general philosophy of this work is to develop an integrated set of decontamination methods and tools that will work on the major CBW threat agents. The work includes some near term techniques that can be demonstrated within a year and implemented soon thereafter as well as longer term research objectives. It is recognized that there is a balance between somewhat less effective methods which can be demonstrated quickly and more effective ones which may require a much longer time to fruition. The optimum goal of this study is to find a single decontamination system for chemical and biological agents which is non-toxic, non-corrosive, and easily deployable. One of the goals is to have decontamination systems that might be used by first responders as well as more complete systems to be used by specialized decontamination teams. Therefore, the overall project goal is to develop better decontamination methods that can be quickly implemented by these organizations. This includes early demonstrations and field work with companies or other government agencies who can identify implementation concerns and needs. The approach taken in this work is somewhat different than the standard military approach to decontamination. In a battlefield scenario, it is critical to decontaminate to a useful level in a very short time so the soldiers can continue their mission. In a domestic, urban scenario, time is of less consequence but collateral damage and recertification (public perception and stakeholder acceptance) are of much greater importance. The specific objective of the LLNL work to date has been to evaluate various oxidizer systems as reagents to allow for detoxification and/or degradation to non-toxic environmentally acceptable components rather than necessitate complete destruction. Detoxification requires less reagent material than total oxidation, thereby reducing the logistic burden for a decontamination team. Since we also wanted to maximize the contact time between the decontaminating reagent and the contaminant agent, we selected gelled reagents as the primary carrier material. Gels have the additional advantage of adhering to vertical and even the underside of horizontal surfaces such as ceilings and walls. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, over a period of twenty years from the late 1960's to the late 1980's, developed a series of extrudable high explosives based on the gelling of polar energetic liquids. While never going into production, this development served as an experience base for formulation, characterization and dispersal system design and fabrication. It was a logical step, therefore, to adapt this work to the gelling of aqueous oxidizers for candidate BW/CW decontaminants.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Defense Programs (DP) (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-Eng-48
- OSTI ID:
- 792625
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-ID-137426; TRN: US200304%%536
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 16 Dec 2000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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