SBIR-STTR Award

The U.S. Department of Defense currently has ever 3,000,000 short tone Of CONUS munitions that have been declared obsolete and are awaiting disposal. Current demilitarization techniques include open detonation and traditional washout methods or meltout. Open detonation includes uncontrolled air emissions, and is unpopular with the general public; traditional washout or meltout methods may require contact with the explosives, causing contamination and reducing the likelihood of recycle and reuse. Microwave meltout technology has the advantage of rapid removal of high explosive from munition items, with no contamination of the explosive, making it suitable for reuse or recovery. The developed technology for microwave removal of high explosives from loaded munitions is attractive to both the and government contractors because of potential for reduced cycle times, reduced energy requirements, reduced operating costs and equipment investment, and higher value end product. El Dorado Engineering employees pioneered the original investigations of microwave meltout of explosives for the Army, and conduced actual testing. Much of what was learned about the basic science of microwave heating of explosives will be directly applied to this project.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) currently has over 3,000,000 short tons of CONUS munitions that have been declared obsolete and are awaiting disposal. According to the November 1996 issue of National Defense, storing these excess munitions costs the DoD billions of dollars per year. Microwave melting to recover explosive materials offers the advantage of not contaminating the recovered explosives, making the explosives highly suitable for reuse or resale. In the Phase I project, EDE determined the practicality of melting out selected explosives, and has identified safety and technical issues that must be addressed during Phase II of this project. Microwave meltout offers many benefits over tradtional demilitarization techniques. It yields an uncontaminated explosive product that will foster recycling because of a higher valued product and eliminates water and air pollution making it very enviromentally friendly. It uses relatively little energy and is a simple process that can be made transportable. Microwave meltout also offers safety advantages over other technologies including the cardinal rule of explosive safety of the minimum amount of people exposed to the minimum amount of explosive for the minimum amount of time.

Benefits:
This project will demonstrate the feasibility of using microwaves to melt explosives out of munitions in a safe, environmentally friendly manner to recover explosives for reuse. Commercialization will benefit the DoD & private sector by providing a viable demilitarization alternative, with high-quality recovered product.

Keywords:
Microwave Meltout Demilitarization Explosives Munitions Recycle Recovery Reuse