The Molten Salt Destruction (MSD) process is an alternative to open burn/open detonation for destroying energetic materials; MSD has inherently low gaseous emissions, and the salt bath can scrub both acidic gases and particulates. It was demonstrated that high explosives and a liquid propellant can be safely and completely destroyed using MSD. Gaseous emissions of NOx and CO are very low. Nitrate builds up in the salt bath when nitrate-rich materials are destroyed, but addition fuel reduces the nitrate to NO. A program has been begun to add catalytic materials to the bed to further reduce emissions; a small molten salt bath has been constructed for chemical kinetic studies.

LLNL has built a small-scale (about 1 kg/hr throughput unit to test the destruction of energetic materials using the Molten Salt Destruction (MSD) process. We have modified the unit described in the earlier references to inject energetic waste material continuously into the unit. In addition to the HMX, other explosives we have destroyed include RDX, PETN, ammonium picrate, TNT, nitroguanadine, and TATB. We have also destroyed a liquid gun propellant comprising hydroxyl ammonium nitrate, triethanolammonium nitrate and water. In addition to these pure components, we have destroyed a number of commonly used formulations, such as LX-10 (HMX/Viton), LX-16 (PETN/FPC461, LX-17 (TATB/Kel F), and PBX-9404 (HMX)/CEF/Nitro cellulose). Our experiments have demonstrated that energetic materials can be safely and effectively treated by MSD.We have also investigated the issue of steam explosions in molten salt units, both experimentally and theoretically, and concluded that steam explosions can be avoided under proper design and operating conditions. We are currently building a larger unit (nominal capacity 5 kg/hr,) to investigate the relationship between residence time, temperature, feed concentration and throughputs, avoidance of back-burn, a;nd determination of the products of combustion under different operating conditions.