Electrochemical demilitarization of solid composition B (HMX/RDX/TNT) and nitrocellulose

• First known report of electrochemical demilitarization of solid energetic materials. • Degradation efficiencies were >90 % (solid mass basis) during a single batch operation. • Treatment residuals were effectively degraded using either UV/H 2 O 2 polishing. • Estimated energy costs for treatment was < $0.05 and < $0.30 per gram for CompB and NC, respectively. Stockpiles of aging, off-spec, or other military munitions containing energetic formulations pose a health and safety risk to humans and the environment. This research is the first report demonstrating electrochemical demilitarization of solid Composition B (CompB; HMX/RDX/TNT) and nitrocellulose (NC) fines. The process combined alkaline hydrolysis with cathode surface reactions in a divided electrochemical cell configuration. The constituents of CompB were degraded (>95 %) to simple end products consisting primarily of NO 2 − , formaldehyde, and residual color. The latter two compounds were shown to be readily amenable to an UV/H 2 O 2 treatment as a potential polishing step. NC fines were hydrolyzed to NO 2 − , NO 3 − , NH 4 + and unspecified total organic carbon (TOC) and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), with minimal accumulation of free cyanide. For both energetics, the degradation kinetics were improved by heating the system to 50 °C. The estimated cost of treatment at the elevated temperature, including chemicals and energy, was <$0.05 per g for CompB and between $0.18 and $0.29 per g for NC, depending on the size cutoff for residuals (>5 and >1.5 µm, respectively). These results provide proof-of-concept that electrochemical processes for treating solid energetic materials may be an effective approach for safe and efficient demilitarization treatment trains for military munitions.