Plasma destruction of battlefield chemical and biological warfare agents

Summary form only given, as follows. Thermal plasmas are being evaluated for use in the destruction of deadly chemical and biological warfare agents. The technology approach consists of employing an electric arc to establish a plasma forming gas plume used to kill the harmful agents. The approach has been demonstrated on surrogate chemical and biological warfare agents. The harmful agents are rapidly destroyed, e.g., within a few seconds. Three different plasmas have been evaluated for their effectiveness to destroy harmful agents. The approaches used include nitrogen plasma, air plasma and a novel water plasma arcjet. The work incorporates an evaluation of the durability of the plasma arcjet technology for this application, e.g., cyclic life and steady-state durability. The follow-on phase of this project will result in a prototype system development suitable for field application. Anticipated benefits are the development of an effective system that will allow rapid and f-effective decontamination of surfaces that have been contaminated with chemical and biological warfare agents. No harmful byproducts will be produced. Additionally, the methods developed have application in the destruction of medical wastes, hazardous industrial wastes and in the destruction of hazardous materials associated with worldwide demilitarization activities.