Assessment of technologies for disposing explosive waste

The environmental impact and safety aspects are assessed for six different techniques for disposing decommissioned ammunition. These are open burning and open detonation (OD), closed detonation (CD), fluidised bed combustion (FBC), rotary kiln (RK) Incineration, and Mobile furnace (MF) Incineration. The assessment is performed in the form of a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Objectives for minimising environmental impact and risk are defined to enable selection of the "best" technology. A framework for comparing emissions of different air pollutants is proposed. Environmental impacts are described, especially air pollutants. The environmental impacts of traditional OB and OD can be drastically reduced using controlled incineration techniques in combination with high-pressure water washout. This enables the explosive contents to be separated from the casing, and simultaneously the explosive is transformed to a desensitised water-based slurry.