Form Approved
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
OMB No. 0704-0188
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OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS.
1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YY)
2. REPORT TYPE
3. DATES COVERED (From - To)
September 2000
Technical Report
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
Estimating the Half-Lives of Key Components of the
5b. GRANT NUMBER
Chemical Vapor Signature of Land Mines
5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
6. AUTHOR(S)
5d. PROJECT NUMBER
5e. TASK NUMBER
Paul H. Miyares and Thomas F. Jenkins
5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT
NUMBER
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
72 Lyme Road
ERDC/CRREL TR-00-17
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-1290
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSOR / MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
3701 Fairfax Drive
11. SPONSOR / MONITOR'S REPORT
NUMBER(S)
Arlington, VA 22203
12. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Available from NTIS, Springfield, Virginia 22161.
13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
14. ABSTRACT
The qualitative composition of the chemical signature of TNT-filled land mines is predominantly the isomers of dinitrotoluene (DNT),
dinitrobenzene (DNB), and trinitrotoluene (TNT). These chemicals are known to undergo transformation in the soil under aerobic conditions,
creating corresponding chemicals in which one of the nitro groups has been converted to an amino function. For these signatures to be
available at the ground surface for detecting buried mines, the stability of these chemicals in the soil must exceed their rate of transport
through the soil to the surface. This research investigates the rate of transformation of the major components of the signature of TNT-filled
land mines in soil. A series of 5.0-g replicate portions of soil from a research minefield at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, was fortified with
2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, 2,4- and 2,6-dinitrotoluene, and 1,3-dinitrobenzene at about 0.5 mg/kg. Replicates were held at one of three temperatures
(22 2, 4 2, or 4 2C) in the dark for periods ranging from 4 hours to 30 days and were then extracted with acetonitrile. The extracts
were analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC to estimate the concentrations of the parent compounds and any detectable transformation products
remaining. Concentrations of these compounds were plotted versus time and the rate of transformation for each compound estimated.
While it doesn't appear that the process is kinetically first order, the half-life at 22C was estimated to be about 1.3 days for 2,4,6-TNT, 9.9
days for 1,3-DNB, 18 days for 2,6-DNT, and 26 days for 2,4-DNT. At lower temperatures the half-lives were considerably longer, as
expected.
15. SUBJECT TERMS
2,4-DNT
Land mine detection
Chemical signatures
Half-lives
TNT
16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF:
17. LIMITATION OF
18. NUMBER
19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON
OF ABSTRACT
OF PAGES
a. REPORT
b. ABSTRACT
c. THIS PAGE
19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (include area code)
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Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)
]Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239.18
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