Sequential electrolytic oxidation and reduction of aqueous phase energetic compounds

Contamination of soils and groundwater with energetic compounds has been documented at many former ammunition manufacturing plants and ranges. Recent research at Colorado State University (CSU) has demonstrated the potential utility of electrolytic degradation of organic compounds using an electrolytic permeable reactive barrier (e-barrier). In principle, an electrolytic approach to degrade aqueous energetic compounds such as hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) or 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) can overcome limitations of management strategies that involve solely oxidation or reduction, through sequential oxidation-reduction or reduction-oxidation. The objective of this proof-of-concept research was to evaluate transformation of aqueous phase RDX and TNT in flow-through electrolytic reactors. Laboratory experiments were conducted using six identical column reactors containing porous media and expanded titanium mixed-metal-oxide electrodes. Three columns tested TNT transformation and three tested RDX transformation. Electrode sequence was varied between columns and one column for each contaminant acted as a no-voltage control. Over 97% of TNT and 93% of RDX was transformed in the reactors under sequential oxidation-reduction. Significant accumulation of known degradation intermediates was not observed under sequential oxidation-reduction. Removal of approximately 90% of TNT and 40% of RDX was observed under sequential reduction-oxidation. Power requirements on the order of 3 W/m(2) were measured during the experiment. This suggests that an in-situ electrolytic approach may be cost-practical for managing groundwater contaminated with explosive compounds.