Removal of Explosives Using an Integrated Iron-Microbial Treatment in Flow-Through Columns

摘要

Soils and groundwater at military sites in many countries are often contaminated with RDX (hexahydro-l,3,5-trinitro-l,3,5-triazine) and other toxic compounds as a result of wastewater disposal from munitions production, handling, and testing operations (Higson 1992; Jenkins and Walsh 1992). RDX is toxic to humans and a variety of organisms, and is classified as a Class C (possible human) carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (McLellan et al. 1988). Several ex situ physical-chemical and biological processes, such as incineration, composting, alkaline hydrolysis/oxidation, and aqueous thermal decomposition, have been practiced to manage RDX contamination (Garg et al. 1991). However, many of these approaches are not cost-effective to treat large volumes of contaminated groundwater. In addition, complete RDX destruction is not always achieved, which can result in the accumulation of transformation products of equal or even greater toxicity (McCormick et al. 1981).