The anaerobic biodegradation of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX), and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) by a methanogenic mixed culture was investigated. Microcosms containing a basal medium and the mixed culture were amended with ethanol, propylene glycol (PG), butyrate or hydrogen gas as the electron donor and a mixture of TNT (50...

Improving techniques for portable trace analyte collection and pretreatment is of critical concern for security, medical, food and environmental applications. The trend has been to employ MEMS technologies to meet this need as these microfabricated devices offer advantages such as small dead volumes, low power consumption, capacity for large scale manufacture and a commensurate savings with eco...

Crude oil spills represent a major ecological threat because of the chemical inertness of the constituent n-alkanes. The Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the few bacterial species able to metabolize such compounds. Three chromosomal genes, rubB, rubA1, and rubA2 coding for an NAD(P)H:rubredoxin reductase (RdxR) and two rubredoxins (Rdxs) are indispensable for this abilit...

This study sought to assign a rough order of magnitude for the amount of explosive residue likely to be available in real-world searches for clandestine explosives. A variety of explosives (TNT, TATP, HMX, AN, RDX, PETN) in various forms (powder, flake, detonating cord, plastic) were carefully weighed or cut into containers, and the amount of residue inadvertently remaining on the work area, ha...

The effect of replacing hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) by octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7tetrazocine (HMX) in HTPB-binder on the performance, sensitivity, thermal, and mechanical properties of the sheet explosive formulation has been studied. The maximum loading of HMX was achieved up to 78 per cent in HTPB-binder system. The velocity of detonation (VOD) of HMX-based sheet e...

Volume dependence of the total energy and vibrational properties of crystalline l,3,5-trinitro-l,3,5-triazine (RDX) are calculated using the density functional theory (DFT). For this molecular crystal, properties calculated with a generalized gradient approximation to the exchange-correlation energy differ drastically from experimental values. This discrepancy arises from the inadequacy in trea...

Electronic and free energy barriers for a series of gas-phase RDX decomposition mechanisms have been obtain using coupled cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples with complete basis set (CCSD(T)/CBS) electronic energies for MBPT(2)/cc-pVTZ structures. Importantly, we have located a well-defined transition state for NN homolysis, in the initial RDX decomposition step, thereby obtainin...

2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (Royal Demolition Explosive, or RDX) deposited on hand grenade training ranges can leach through the soil and impact shallow groundwater. A 27-mo field monitoring project was conducted to evaluate the transport and attenuation of high explosives in variably saturated soils at an active grenade range located at Fort Bragg, N...

A series of column studies, using site-specific soil and groundwater, were conducted to determine the feasibility of biologically active zone enhancement (BAZE) process for reductive biotransformation of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) in groundwater. This treatability study examined the use of four amendments (acetate, ethanol, soluble starch, and acetate plus ammonium), which se...

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 eff...