[Link to project description in SERDP website]
The Department of Defense (DoD) is establishing the environmental and public health impacts of newly deployed insensitive high explosive (IHE) compounds. In particular, the IHE constituent, 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO), is a concern due to its very high aqueous solubility (16,640 mg L-1) and low hydrophobicity. These properties are expected to provide conditions for elevated concentrations of NTO in munitions manufacturing wastewater. Likewise, NTO is very mobile in soil and aquifers creating the potential threat of surface water and groundwater contamination. Thus, there is a need to develop a cost-effective method that can target NTO as the predominant explosive in munitions wastewater or contaminated groundwater. The objectives of this project are to demonstrate that reactive minerals in a sequence of reducing and oxidizing packed bed reactors can rapidly degrade NTO to safe end-products. Additionally, the project will demonstrate whether the packed bed reactors can operate robustly over extended time periods, confirming their feasibility as a technological option.