Thermal System Reduces Munitions Stockpiles

October 1, 2013

Harper International has been selected by U.S. Demil, LLC (USD) for the design of a continuous, indirect Rotary Thermal Treatment Unit (TTU). The equipment will support US Department of Defense efforts directed at reducing and recycling large stockpiles of excess, obsolete, and unserviceable munitions for safety and environmental purposes.

USD conducted several extensive process development sessions at Harper’s Technology Research Center to test and prove their proprietary nonincinerative thermal demilitarization process, known as “Decineration™”, on various small production lots of unique munitions materials. The resulting TTU achieves the client’s needs of successfully demilitarizing and recovering, without destruction, all non-energetic materials in an environmentally responsible manner. As such, USD’s closed-end “Decineration” methodology is considered a unique material recovery process that has received a US patent and a federal EPA exemption from RECRA-C permitting requirements.

The system design has a rotary tube to meet N.E.W. (net explosive weight) safety requirements, reinforced entrance and exit hoods, precise thermal control, and robust environmental abatement systems. Other features include the ability to process a large and varied universe of munitions, and to relocate the fully self-contained system easily from site to site, thereby eliminating the need to transport munitions.

The US Army’s Conventional Ammunition Demilitarization Program is safely and responsibly destroying excess, obsolete, and unserviceable munitions currently in inventory.