Challenge
Shaw Environmental and the U.S. Army needed a system to treat a waste stream generated by the destruction of chemical warfare material, as part of the U.S. Army Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Project (NSCMP).

The NSCMP provides centralized management and direction for the U.S. Department of Defense for the disposal of non-stockpile chemical warfare material in a safe, environmentally sound and cost-effective manner. The NSCMP conducts research and develops treatment options and destruction plans that fully comply with all federal, state, and local regulations and laws, as well as meet strict international guidelines. It mandates that all chemical weapons and their productions facilities must be destroyed by April of 2007.

A technology was needed which would meet stringent treatment specifications of greater than 99.9 percent destruction efficiency of target compounds in the feed materials and be an environmentally-friendly alternative to incineration.

Solution
Shaw evaluated and tested a variety of processes and innovative technologies for the treatment of Non-Stockpile secondary wastes. Pilot testing of wet air oxidation proved it an effective technology to reach the required destruction efficiencies of 99.9%. In addition, two independent technology evaluation panels consisting of technical experts and citizens actively involved in the chemical demilitarization weapons destruction process, identified wet air oxidation technology as an effective treatment process for Non-stockpile neutralents.

A Zimpro® wet air oxidation (WAO) system was chosen as the treatment solution on this project for the following reasons:

• Pilot testing demonstrated the ability of the system to treat binary neutralents in a safe and successful matter.
  
• It is a new and innovative alternative to incineration for the treatment and disposal of wastes generated from the destruction of chemical warfare material.
  
• Installing the wet air oxidation unit will not result in significant impacts to the environment, and meets international treaty requirements of destruction.

Shaw recommended the use of the Zimpro® wet air oxidation system to the Army for this project because of its demonstrated ability to meet the CWC requirements for destruction of the material, and because WAO technology has been successfully treating wastes in other specialty and high-strength applications since the 1950s.

Result
Use of the WAO system will effectively reduce the volume of off-gas generated by treatment of the waste stream. The WAO system will process 26.5 gallons per minute of neutralized chemical agent precursors. The precursor chemicals are destroyed using a neutralization process prior to WAO treatment, and the effluent from the WAO system will be disposed of by Texas Molecular.