Simulated rainfall-driven dissolution of TNT, Tritonal, Comp B and Octol particles.
Live-fire military training can deposit millimeter-sized particles of high explosives (HE) on surface soils when rounds do not explode as intended. Rainfall-driven dissolution of the particles then begins a process whereby aqueous HE solutions can enter the soil and groundwater as contaminants. We dripped water onto individual particles of TNT, Tritonal, Comp B and Octol to simulate how surface-deposited HE particles might dissolve under the action of rainfall and to use the data to verify a model that predicts HE dissolution as a function of particle size, particle composition and rainfall rate. Particle masses ranged from 1.1 to 17 mg and drip rates corresponded to nominal rainfall rates of 6 and 12 mmh(-1). For the TNT and Tritonal particles, TNT solubility governed dissolution time scales, whereas the lower-solubility of RDX controlled the dissolution time of both RDX and TNT in Comp B. The large, low-solubility crystals of HMX slowed but did not control the dissolution of TNT in Octol. Predictions from a drop-impingement dissolution model agree well with dissolved-mass timeseries for TNT, Tritonal and Comp B, providing some confidence that the model will also work well when applied to the rainfall-driven, outdoor dissolution of these HE particles.
Taylor
Susan
S
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 72 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755-1290, United States. Susan.Taylor@usace.army.mil
Lever
James H
JH
Fadden
Jennifer
J
Perron
Nancy
N
Packer
Bonnie
B
D000535:Aluminum / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D001392:Azocines / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D053834:Explosive Agents / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D011891:Rain; D012995:Solubility; D013997:Time Factors; D014227:Triazines / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D014303:Trinitrotoluene / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D014872:Water Movements
D001392:Azocines; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D053834:Explosive Agents; D014227:Triazines; D014303:Trinitrotoluene; D000535:Aluminum; C007950:octogen; C009160:cyclonite