Safe Ammunition Disposal

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TechLink facilitated a license agreement and CRADA between the Army Corps of Engineers and Bouldin & Lawson of McMinnville, Tennessee. These agreements will enable safe and environmentally acceptable disposal of live small ammunition.

Disposal of live ammunition is a growing problem for munitions manufacturers and war-torn countries around the world. In Iraq alone, an estimated 600,000 tons of small caliber munitions await destruction. Present disposal methods are expensive, unsafe, and labor intensive.

The Army technology provides a safe and cost-effective way to destroy or demilitarize live small ammunition. This technology was developed by the Corps of Engineer’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL). It uses a perlite sorbent system for filtering vapor-phase metals and metal compounds.

Bouldin & Lawson will use this technology to create a complete ammunition disposal system that meets or exceeds stringent EPA emissions standards. Under the companion CRADA, the company will collaborate with CERL researchers to design and test a smaller, portable disposal system that can be transported to ammunition stockpiles. This technology offers a safe, cost-effective solution to a growing international problem.