CATALYTIC-HYDROTHERMAL DISPOSAL PROCESS OF CHEMICAL MILITARY MATERIALS

摘要

The chemical military materials include both the group of chemical agents used in chemical weapons and the group of fuels used in military aircraft. Chemical military materials must be disposed of at the end of their storage life. A continuous process is disclosed for that purpose. The chemical military materials are first suspended and/or dissolved in water and an alkaline catalyst is added to the aqueous mixture. A reaction mixture is thus obtained. The reaction mixture is brought to the reaction pressure by liquid feeding means, for example a high pressure pump. The reaction pressure lies between 100 bars and 1000 bars. The reaction mixture is heated up to a reaction temperature lower than the critical temperature of pure water. The usual reaction temperature is 350 °C. The reaction mixture heated up to the reaction temperature then flows over a catalyst bed that contains a catalytic zirconium dioxide. The catalysed reactions produce a hot mixture of converted materials that is substantially free of chemical military materials. The hot mixture of converted materials is cooled down and expanded in a separator, producing a gaseous phase with CO2, CH4 and H2, an oily phase and an aqueous phase with dissolved salts that may all be dumped.