Determining Fate and Transport Parameters for Nitroglycerine, 2,4-Dinitrotoluene, 2,6-Dinitrotoluene and Nitroguanidine in Soils

Abstract

During military operations, a small fraction of propellant mass is not consumed during firing and is deposited onto the ground surface. Soluble propellant constituents can be released from particulate residues into the environment. The release of uncombusted propellant residues and transformation products results in soil, surface water, and ultimately groundwater contamination. It is important to study the potential for off-site migration of munitions and to provide qualitative data that helps better understand transit of these propellant constituents. Propellant constituents of interest for this study were nitroglycerine (NG), 2,4-dinitrotoluine (2,4-DNT), 2,6-dinitrotoluine (2,6-DNT), and nitroguanidine (NQ). The goal of this work is to determine fate and transport parameters, partition/distribution coefficients and transformation rates for these compounds in three soils that represent a range of geographic locations and soil properties. This supports a companion study that looks at dissolution of constituents from fired and unfired solid propellant formulations and their transport in soil.