Pilot-scale incineration of ballistic missile liquid propellant components. Research paper

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recently concluded agreements with the Ukraine and the Russian Federation under which the DoD is committed to providing both former Soviet Union (FSU) states with equipment and other aid for use in eliminating their strategic offensive arms in accordance with schedules negotiated in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. One specific need consists of process equipment to treat or destroy pure ballistic missile liquid propellant components as well as vapor or purge media contaminated by these components. The propellant components are unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel and nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) oxidizer. Incineration is one possible treatment process. To supply data to demonstrate that incineration is a safe and effective treatment process, a series of tests was conducted at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency`s Incineration Research Facility.