Explosives on Granular Activated Carbon : Enhanced Desorption of High Explosives from GAC-~ Batch ED Studies

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Morley, Matthew Speitel, Gerald E.
Copyright Year	2013
Abstract	Adsorption to GAC is an effective ·method for removing high explosives (HE) compounds from water, but no permanent treatment is achieved. Bioregeneration, which treats adsorbed contaminants by desorption and biodegradation, is being developed as a method for reducing GAC usage rates and permanently degrading RDX and HMX. Because desorption is often the limiting mass transfer mechanism in bioregeneration systems, several methods for increasing the rate and extent of desorption of RDX and HMX are being studied. These include use of cosolvents (methanol and ethanol), surfactants (both anionic and nonionic), and 13and y-cyclodextrins. Batch experiments to characterize the desorption of these HEs from GAC have been completed using Northwestern LB-830, the GAC being used at Pantex. Over a total of 11 days of desorption, about 3% of the adsorbed RDX was desorbed from the GAC using buffered water as the desorption fluid. In comparison, about 96% of the· RDX was extracted from the GAC by acetonitrile over the same desorption period. Ethanol and methanol were both effective in desorbing RDX and HMX; higher alcohol concentrations were able to desorb more HE from the GAC. Surfactants varied widely in their abilities to enhance desorption of HEs. The most effective surfactant that was studied was sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), which desorbed 56.4% of the adsorbed RDX at a concentration of 500 mg SDSIL. The cyclodextrins that were used were marginally more effective than water. Continuous-flow column tests are underway for further testing the most promising of these methods. These results will be compared to column experiments that have been completed under baseline conditions (using buffered water as the desorption fluid). Results of this research will support modeling and design of further desorption and bioregeneration experiments.
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Alternate Webpage(s)	https://hwbdocuments.env.nm.gov/Los%20Alamos%20National%20Labs/General/14700.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article