JMP Helps the Army “Go Green”
Edward D. Cooke, Kevin Singer, Peggy Sanchez, Shauna Dorsey, Pamela Sheehan
US Army ARDEC
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ 07806
The US Army has a need for a novel process to demilitarize stock piles of expired propellant materials through more effective and efficient methods. The current method involves the open burning of propellant. In an attempt to replace this process, a series of chemical treatments have been investigated to convert propellant materials into useful energy solutions while simultaneously reducing the environmental effects of the demilitarization. The first treatment is a hydrolysis reaction resulting in an aqueous solution of desired species capable of supporting subsequent treatments. A design of experiments (DOE) was drawn upon and created in JMP in order to determine the most cost effective, high yielding, and efficient hydrolysis conditions. A three factor central composite design space utilized concentration of two reactants and temperature variables with a minimized number of experiments in order to estimate first order effects, second order effects, and second order interactions with sufficient statistical power. A model was generated utilizing least squares analysis and trade-off analyses resolved the ideal reaction conditions. DOE criteria and selection, experimental execution, optimization, and overarching analyses will be presented along with suggestions for potential augmentations.
