Degradation of 2,4,6-trinitrvtoluene in solid waste using iron metal

Abstract

Contaminated solid waste -at munition factories is a serious problem since it contains 2,4,6trinitrotoluene (TNT), a nitroaromatic compound toxic to human health as well as to aquatic and terrestrial life, Our objective was to determine if zero-valent iron (Fe^o) associated with H202 could be used to degrade 2,4,6- trinitrotoluene (TNT) in slurries of the solid waste and water. The results show that sequential treatments of a TNT-contaminated solid waste (277 mg TNT kg-1) with Fe^o (1% w/w) within 6 hours followed by H2O2 (05% v/v) within 8 hours completely destroyed TNT and its highly toxic anilinic intermediates. The optimal performance of Feo powder was obtained when the reagent was added in four increments rather than in a single dose. Our observations also indicate that ion Cl improved the performance of the reduction a/TNT by Fe^o