Dissolution of Composition B Detonation Residuals

Composition B (Comp B) detonation residuals pose environmental concern to the U. S. Army because hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), a constituent, has contaminated groundwater near training ranges. To mimic their dissolution on surface soils, we dripped water at 0.51 mL/h onto individual Comp B particles (0.1−2.0 mg) collected from the detonation of 81-mm mortars. Analyses of the effluent indicate that the RDX and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in Comp B do not dissolve independently. Rather, the relatively slow dissolution of RDX controls dissolution of the particle as a whole by limiting the exposed area of TNT. Two dissolution models, a published steady-flow model and a drop-impingement model developed here, provide good agreement with the data using RDX parameters for time scaling. They predict dissolution times of 6−600 rainfall days for 0.01−100 mg Comp B particles exposed to 0.55 cm/h rainfall rate. These models should bracket the flow regimes for dissolution of detonation residuals on soils, but they require additional data to validate them across the range of particle sizes and rainfall rates of interest.