1 ELEMENTAL Fe BASED BIMETALLIC PARTICLES FOR THE TREATMENT OF ENERGETIC MATERIALS LADEN WASTEWATER Washington Braida 1 , Adebayo Ogundipe 1 , Julius Pavlov 1 , Jacqueline Fawcett 1 , Christos Christodoulatos 1 , Agamemnon Koutsospyros 2 , Gregory O’Connor 3 , Benjamin Smolinski 4 and Donald Yee 4 1 Stevens Institute of Technology, 2 University of New Haven, 3 US ARMY PM-JS, 4 US ARMY RDECOM-ARDEC ABSTRACT A reductive technology based on a completely mixed two-phase reactor (bimetallic particles and aqueous stream) was developed for the treatment of aqueous effluents contaminated with nitramines and nitro substituted energetic materials. Experimental degradation studies were performed using laboratory prepared solutions containing RDX, HMX, TNT. The studies show that at the laboratory and pilot scales, bimetallic particles (Fe/Ni and Fe/Cu) prepared by electro-less deposition are suitable for the complete degradation of the three energetic materials and the nitroso products over a wide range of initial energetic concentration. Fe/Cu particles showed faster kinetics of destruction than Fe/Ni particles. The half life for all compounds tested was less than four minutes. The degradation of RDX, HMX, and TNT was successfully modeled using pseudo-first-order kinetics with k pseudo ranging from 0.088 min -1 to 3.56 min -1 , depending on the type of bimetallic particle, energetic and particle loading. . 1. INTRODUCTION The production of munitions generates explosive-laden wastewater, which in the past was generally discharged into local streams, ditches, and settling lagoons. Current environmental policies mandate that the wastewater effluents be treated prior to their discharge to the environment. The wastewater effluents are composed of variable mixtures of RDX and HMX as well as the degradation products of RDX - MNX, DNX, and TNX (hexahydro-1-nitroso-3,5-dinitro-1,3,5-triazine, hexahydro-1,3- dinitroso-5-nitro-1,3,5-triazine, hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitroso-1,3,5-triazine; respectively). All of these compounds are toxic and persistent in the environment; additionally, RDX and HMX have been classified as a class C “Possible Human Carcinogens” by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Currently there are several available methods for the treatment of RDX- and HMX- contaminated soil and water, with the majority of research focused on anaerobic and physicochemical treatments. Anaerobic and physicochemical treatments are somewhat effective in treating explosive-laden