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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)
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      Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)


      Mission: The safe elimination of chemical weapons at Pueblo and Blue Grass by Sept. 30, 2023

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      Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP)

      BGCAPP is safely destroying the chemical weapons stockpile currently in storage at the Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond, Kentucky.

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      Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP)

      PCAPP is safely destroying the chemical weapons stockpile currently in storage at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado.

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Pueblo Plant Readies 3rd Module to Process Hydrolysate

Published: December 4, 2019 | Category: PCAPP News, Technology
Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Immobilized Cells Bioreactors are packed with media polyurethane foam cubes where microbes will reside. The microbes treat hydrolysate, the wastewater byproduct that results from the chemical agent neutralization process.

Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Immobilized Cells Bioreactors are packed with media polyurethane foam cubes where microbes will reside. The microbes treat hydrolysate, the wastewater byproduct that results from the chemical agent neutralization process.

The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant is preparing to increase its processing capacity by activating a third Immobilized Cell Bioreactor module.

“We have started to approach the maximum capacity of two ICBs when the plant is running really well,” said Dr. Patrick Sullivan, physical scientist and environmental manager, PCAPP.

Michael Abaie, Program Executive Officer, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, made the decision this fall to prepare PCAPP’s third Immobilized Cell Bioreactor module for operation in the next month to handle an expected increase in throughput at the plant. Nicholas Stamatakis III, deputy PEO, made the announcement Oct. 30 to the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission.

Dr. James Earley, chief scientist, PCAPP, said seeding of the ICB module with microbes will begin in December and take approximately four to six weeks to acclimate the biomass to the hydrolysate feed.

“This provides for additional hydrolysate treatment capacity and reduces risk associated with hydrolysate storage, allowing for much-needed maintenance work to be performed on the other two modules to maintain and improve system performance over the long term,” Earley said.

Hydrolysate is the caustic wastewater resulting from the plant’s process of chemical neutralization used to destroy mustard agent in aging Army munitions.

Following confirmation of agent destruction, hydrolysate is treated in the reaction tanks – aerobic, fixed-film bioreactors packed with 2-inch polyurethane foam cubes where biological organisms reside. Biomass to feed the reactors is sourced from local sewage plants, although Sullivan said the reactors would eventually propagate with bacteria from the air inside them.

PCAPP Technology Articles

  • Agent-filled 4.2-inch mortar rounds are monitored during Static Detonation Chamber agent trial testing operations at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

    Static Detonation Chamber Trial Testing Concludes

    Published: May 13, 2022
  • After a chemical weapon is drained of agent and rinsed with high-pressure hot water, Agent Washwater Separator tanks collect fluid before sending it to Agent Neutralization Reactors to destroy the mustard agent. The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant has two tanks, providing the plant with redundancy when neutralizing agent.

    Backup Systems Allow for Safe Repairs

    Published: March 28, 2022
  • All chemical weapons from the Colorado stockpile are sorted into four color-coded lots to reduce delays in destruction due to problematic munitions.

    Color Coding Boosts Chemical Weapon Destruction

    Published: March 23, 2022
  • A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant ordnance technician holds the first 4.2-inch mortar round to be processed in the Static Detonation Chamber complex.

    First Agent Destroyed in Static Detonation Chamber

    Published: February 22, 2022
  • Static Detonation Chamber ordnance technicians Rachelle S. and Mike W. remove a 57mm conventional ammunition round from its fiber tube during SDC non-agent Trial Burn Testing.

    Conventional Explosives Demonstrate Static Detonation Chamber Capability

    Published: February 15, 2022
  • Munitions transporters unload inert 4.2-inch mortar rounds from the back of a Modified Ammunition Vehicle during Integrated Operations Demonstrations. (Portions of this photograph have been blurred in accordance with Department of Defense guidelines)

    Pueblo Static Detonation Chamber Team Demonstrates Operations

    Published: February 2, 2022
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Recent PCAPP Articles

  • Colorado Commission Welcomes New Member

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    November 18, 2021
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    Mentorship Critical to Pueblo Plant Maintenance

    August 30, 2021

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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)