Removing explosives from wastewater
R. K. Andren, Roger P. McDonnell, Berber Stevens, John M. Nystrom · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · 1977
A continuous adsorption process for removing nitro compounds (including explosive materials such as trinitrotoluene, dinitrotoluene, and nitrocresols) from wastewater was developed which utilizes two parallel polymeric adsorption columns and two similar smaller polishing columns. The Amberlite XAD-4 adsorbent is readily regenerated by solvent treatment with acetone which may be recovered. Pilot studies at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Burlington, Iowa, are described and the drawbacks of other treatment processes such as neutralization, settling, dilution, or biological treatment are discussed.