Reducing Air Pollutant Emissions From Solvent Multi-Base Propellant Production

摘要

The Radford Army Ammunition Plant, Virginia, is the multi-base propellant manufacturing facility for the Department of Defense (DoD). Solvent multi-base propellant production, however, emits large quantities of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The pollutant stream also contains low concentrations of nitroglycerine (NG). The NG content prohibits the use of traditional air pollution control technologies because of safety concerns. This report summarizes the research of CERL and others into alternative air pollution control technologies. Bench-scale tests of sulfuric acid scrubbing, sorptive slurry biodegradation, and ultraviolet (UV) photocatalytic oxidation were conducted. The results of the UV photocatalytic oxidation tests showed the most promise based on safety, economic, and operational considerations and the remaining research effort focused on this technology. UV photocatalytic oxidation was tested on a larger scale to determine its effectiveness. This report describes the results of the larger scale testing and presents a demonstration protocol that can be applied to future full-scale work.