Read Anytime Anywhere Easy Ebook Downloads at ebookmeta.

com

Effects of the Deletion of Chemical Agent Washout

on Operations at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent
Destruction Pilot Plant 1st Edition

https://ebookmeta.com/product/effects-of-the-deletion-of-
chemical-agent-washout-on-operations-at-the-blue-grass-
chemical-agent-destruction-pilot-plant-1st-edition/

OR CLICK HERE

DOWLOAD EBOOK

Visit and Get More Ebook Downloads Instantly at https://ebookmeta.com

 Recommended digital products (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) that
you can download immediately if you are interested.

Review Criteria for Successful Treatment of Hydrolysate at

the Pueblo Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant 1st
Edition National Research Council Division On Engineering
And Physical Sciences Board On Army Science And Technology
https://ebookmeta.com/product/review-criteria-for-successful-
Committee On Review Criteria For Successful Treatment Of
treatment-of-hydrolysate-at-the-pueblo-chemical-agent-destruction-
pilot-plant-1st-edition-national-research-council-division-on-
Hydrolysate At The Pueblo And Blue Grass Chemical Agent
engineering-and-physical-sciences-board-o/
ebookmeta.com
Destruction Pilot Plants

Agent in the Shadows 1st Edition Alex Gerlis

https://ebookmeta.com/product/agent-in-the-shadows-1st-edition-alex-
gerlis/

ebookmeta.com

The Chemical Biology of Phosphorus 1st Edition Walsh

https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-chemical-biology-of-phosphorus-1st-
edition-walsh/

ebookmeta.com

World’s Greatest National Parks, Fourth Edition Jacqueline

Snowden

https://ebookmeta.com/product/worlds-greatest-national-parks-fourth-
edition-jacqueline-snowden/

ebookmeta.com
Human Growth and Development 3rd Edition Noel Cameron

https://ebookmeta.com/product/human-growth-and-development-3rd-
edition-noel-cameron/

ebookmeta.com

Neuromorphic Engineering: The Scientist’s, Algorithms

Designer’s and Computer Architect’s Perspectives on Brain-
Inspired Computing 1st Edition Elishai Ezra Tsur
https://ebookmeta.com/product/neuromorphic-engineering-the-scientists-
algorithms-designers-and-computer-architects-perspectives-on-brain-
inspired-computing-1st-edition-elishai-ezra-tsur-2/
ebookmeta.com

The Prepper s Guide to Foraging 2nd Edition David Nash

https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-prepper-s-guide-to-foraging-2nd-
edition-david-nash/

ebookmeta.com

Anthropology: What Does It Mean to Be Human? Second

Canadian Edition Robert H. Lavenda

https://ebookmeta.com/product/anthropology-what-does-it-mean-to-be-
human-second-canadian-edition-robert-h-lavenda/

ebookmeta.com

English for Dietetics Barbara Gorbacz-Gancarz

https://ebookmeta.com/product/english-for-dietetics-barbara-gorbacz-
gancarz/

ebookmeta.com
HIS 1st Edition Jenika Snow

https://ebookmeta.com/product/his-1st-edition-jenika-snow/

ebookmeta.com
 Effects of the Deletion of
Chemical Agent Washout on
Operations at the
Blue Grass Chemical Agent
Destruction Pilot Plant

Committee on Effects of the Deletion of Chemical Agent Washout

on Operations at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot
Plant

Board on Army Science and Technology

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS • 500 Fifth Street, NW •
Washington, DC 20001

This activity was supported by Contract No. W911NF-15-1-0465 with

the U.S. Department of Defense. Any opinions, findings, conclusions,
or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily
reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support
for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-38948-8

International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-38948-8
Digital Object Identifier: 10.17226/21884
Epub ISBN: 978-0-309-38951-8

Additional copies of this report are available for sale from the
National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360,
Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313;
http://www.nap.edu.

Copyright 2016 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights

reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,

and Medicine. 2016. Effects of the Deletion of Chemical Agent
Washout on Operations at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent
Destruction Pilot Plant. Washington, DC: The National Academies
Press. doi:10.17226/21884.
The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by
an Act of Congress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private,
nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to
science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for
outstanding contributions to research. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is
president.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964

under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to bring the
practices of engineering to advising the nation. Members are elected
by their peers for extraordinary contributions to engineering. Dr. C.
D. Mote, Jr., is president.

The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of

Medicine) was established in 1970 under the charter of the National
Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and health
issues. Members are elected by their peers for distinguished
contributions to medicine and health. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president.

The three Academies work together as the National Academies of

Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide independent,
objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other
activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy
decisions. The Academies also encourage education and research,
recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase
public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and
medicine.

Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,

and Medicine at www.national-academies.org.
COMMITTEE ON EFFECTS OF THE DELETION
OF CHEMICAL AGENT WASHOUT ON
OPERATIONS AT THE BLUE GRASS CHEMICAL
AGENT DESTRUCTION PILOT PLANT

GARY S. GROENEWOLD, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls,

Chair
HEREK L. CLACK, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
RICHARD C. FLAGAN, NAE,1 California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena
REBECCA A. HAFFENDEN, Argonne National Laboratory, Santa Fe,
New Mexico
THOM J. HODGSON, NAE, North Carolina State University, Raleigh,
North Carolina
MURRAY GLENN LORD, The Dow Chemical Company, Freeport,
Texas
WILLIAM J. WARD, NAE, GE Corporate Research and Development
(retired), Niskayuna, New York

Staff
BRUCE BRAUN, Director, Board on Army Science and Technology
JAMES C. MYSKA, Study Director
NIA D. JOHNSON, Senior Research Associate
DEANNA SPARGER, Program Administrative Coordinator

__________________
1 Member of the National Academy of Engineering.
BOARD ON ARMY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

DAVID M. MADDOX, NAE,1 Independent Consultant, Arlington,

Virginia, Chair
JEAN D. REED, National Defense University, Arlington, Virginia, Vice
Chair
SCOTT BADENOCH, Badenoch, LLC, Southfield, Michigan
STEVEN W. BOUTELLE, CISCO Consulting Services, Herndon, Virginia
CARL A. CASTRO, Center for Innovation and Research and Military
Families, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
DAVID E. CROW, NAE, University of Connecticut, Glastonbury
REGINALD DESROCHES, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
EARL H. DOWELL, NAE, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
FRANCIS J. DOYLE III, Harvard University, Cambridge,
Massachusetts
JULIA D. ERDLEY, Pennsylvania State University, State College
LESTER A. FOSTER, Electronic Warfare Associates, Herndon, Virginia
JAMES A. FREEBERSYSER, BBN Technology, St. Louis Park,
Minnesota
PETER N. FULLER, Cypress International, Springfield, Virginia
R. JOHN HANSMAN, NAE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge
J. SEAN HUMBERT, University of Colorado, Boulder
JOHN W. HUTCHINSON, NAE/NAS,2 Harvard University, Cambridge,
Massachusetts
JENNIE HWANG, NAE, H-Technologies Group, Cleveland, Ohio
BRUCE D. JETTE, Synovision Solutions, LLC, Burke, Virginia
JOHN JOANNOPOULOS, NAS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge
ROBIN L. KEESEE, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat
Organization (retired), Fairfax, Virginia
ERIC T. MATSON, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
ROGER L. McCARTHY, NAE, McCarthy Engineering, Palo Alto,
California
MICHAEL McGRATH, McGrath Analytics, LLC, Reston, Virginia
ALLAN T. MENSE, Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona
WALTER F. MORRISON, Booz Allen Hamilton (retired), Alexandria,
Virginia
SCOTT PARAZYNSKI, Arizon State University, Tempe
DANIEL PODOLSKY, NAE, University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center, Dallas
KENNETH M. ROSEN, General Aero-Science Consultants, LLC,
Guilford, Connecticut
LEON E. SALOMON, Independent Consultant, Gulfport, Florida
ALBERT A. SCIARRETTA, CNS Technologies, Inc., Springfield, Virginia
NEIL SIEGEL, NAE, North Grumman Information Systems, Carson,
California
LAWRENCE D. STONE, NAE, Metron, Inc., Reston, Virginia
MICHAEL A. VANE, Independent Consultant, Shaver Lake, California

Staff
BRUCE A. BRAUN, Director
CHRIS JONES, Financial Associate
JAMES C. MYSKA, Program Officer
NIA D. JOHNSON, Senior Research Associate
DEANNA P. SPARGER, Program Administrative Coordinator

__________________
1 Member of the National Academy of Engineering.
2 Member of the National Academy of Sciences.
 Preface

The Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP)

was designed and constructed at the Blue Grass Army Depot in
Richmond, Kentucky, for the purpose of destroying rockets and
artillery projectiles that contain the nerve agents GB and VX. These
nerve agents are chemical warfare agents, and the United States is
obligated by the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty to destroy
them. BGCAPP is a chemical processing plant specifically designed to
access munition cavities and drain liquid agents. Agent remaining in
the munitions was originally to have been washed out using a
stream of hot, high-pressure water. The agent and washout water
were to have been combined and then reacted with sodium
hydroxide, which chemically degrades the nerve agents. In addition
to treating the agent, the BGCAPP also processes other multiple
solid, liquid, and gaseous waste streams.
The mixtures of the agents with washout water generated by the
initial drain-water washout process had the potential to create
problems that would degrade the safety of operations and
compromise the materials used in the agent transfer lines.
Consequently, BGCAPP program management decided that these
problems could be mitigated by eliminating the water washout
process. This decision resulted in munitions bodies containing
significant residual agent on surfaces or in crevices being sent into
some BGCAPP processes that, in some instances, were not originally
designed for agent destruction; and in others, resulted in higher
agent loads than originally intended.
This report describes possible outcomes of the deletion of the
water washout process that are related to the partitioning of agent
into multiple processing streams within BGCAPP. These outcomes
include the necessity of some processing units treating more agent
than was initially planned, impacts on BGCAPP’s ability to meet and
demonstrate achieving legally required destruction efficiency criteria,
and impacts on process modeling and the ability to computationally
predict munitions throughput and completion dates for munitions
destruction campaigns.
I am very thankful for the members of the Committee on Effects
of the Deletion of Chemical Agent Washout on Operations at the
Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant, who served in a
volunteer capacity but nevertheless were exceptionally generous
with their expertise and time. They attended briefings at BGCAPP
and two writing meetings at the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine facilities in Washington, D.C.
The committee is indebted to the BGCAPP staff, being the
beneficiary of extensive briefings and literature that they provided.
The BGCAPP staff members were remarkable in their patience and
energy as they responded to repeated requests for information.
They displayed a high level of expertise throughout the course of
this study.
The committee is also grateful for the support of the Academies
staff, particularly Deanna Sparger, Nia Johnson, Jim Myska, and
Bruce Braun. Their attention to logistical detail and the long-running
familiarity with the BGCAPP endeavor was significant and highly
appreciated over the course of this study.

Gary S. Groenewold, Chair

Committee on Effects of the
Deletion of Chemical Agent Washout on
Operations at the Blue Grass Chemical
Agent Destruction Pilot Plant
 Acknowledgments

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen

for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance
with procedures approved by the Report Review Committee. The
purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical
comments that will assist the institution in making its published
report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets
institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness
to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript
remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative
process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review
of this report:

Edward L. Cussler, Jr., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,

Jaron Hansen, Brigham Young University,
Todd Kimmell, Argonne National Laboratory,
Ronald Kolpa, Argonne National Laboratory,
Arturo Lopez, The Dow Chemical Company,
Trisha H. Miller, Sandia National Laboratories, and
Julius Rebek, Jr., The Scripps Research Institute.
 Although the reviewers listed above have provided many
constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to
endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the
final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report
was overseen by Hyla S. Napadensky, Napadensky Energetics Inc.
(retired), who was responsible for making certain that an
independent examination of this report was carried out in
accordance with institutional procedures and that all review
comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final
content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee
and the institution.
 Contents

SUMMARY

1 INTRODUCTION
Processing of Rocket Warheads
Processing of Projectiles
Concerns Related to the Operation of the Plant as Originally
Designed
Washout Deletion Modifications
Statement of Task
Approach to the Statement of Task and Organization of the Report
References

2 PLANT PROCESS CHANGES AS A RESULT OF WASHOUT DELETION

Rocket and Projectile Drain Operations
Strainer Sock Loading
MPT and Plant Off-Gas Treatment System (OTM)
EBH and Off-Gas Treatment System for the Energetics
Neutralization System (OTE)
Impacts on the Overall MDB HVAC System
References
3 IMPACTS ON CALCULATION OF DESTRUCTION EFFICIENCY
Current Regulatory Requirements for Destruction Efficiency
Current Approach to Calculating Destruction Efficiency (Approach
1)
Impact of Washout Deletion on the Calculation of Destruction
Efficiency
Agent Partitioning to the EBH and ENS Units
Agent Partitioning to the MPT and OTM Units
Alternative Approaches to Calculating Destruction Efficiency
(Approaches 2 and 3)
Calculation of Destruction Efficiency Under Approach 2
Calculation of Destruction Efficiency Under Approach 3
Measurements Required for Verifying Destruction Efficiency
Requirements

4 PROCESS MODELING IN SUPPORT OF WASHOUT DELETION

The BGCAPP Facility Model
Munition Drain Times
Filter Sock Change-Out Frequency
Exploring System Sensitivity to the Input Parameters
Operational Data Collection
Reference

APPENDIXES

A Committee Activities
B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members
 Figures and Table

FIGURES
1-1 Block diagram showing the processing units and the flow of
products at BGCAPP
2-1 Agent transfer system block diagram
2-2 Worst-case GB scenario with venting to room
3-1 Process flow diagram for destruction efficiency calculation under
Approaches 1, 2, and 3
3-2 Flow diagram showing committee recommendations for
expanding effluent measurements to allow the calculation of DE
at 99.9999 regulatory requirements and for rerouting the OTE
through the OTM

TABLE
3-1 Summary of Approaches to Calculating Destruction Efficiency
(DE)
 Abbreviations and Acronyms

ACS agent collection system

AFS aluminum filtration system
ANR agent neutralization reactor
ANS agent neutralization system
APS aluminum precipitation system
ATT agent transfer tank

BGAD Blue Grass Army Depot

BGCAPP Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant
BPBG Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass
BPT Bechtel Pueblo Team

CWC Chemical Weapons Convention

DE destruction efficiency

EBH energetics batch hydrolyzer

ENR energetics neutralization reactor
ENS energetics neutralization system
FOAK first-of-a-kind

GB nerve agent (sarin)

HF hydrofluoric acid or hydrogen fluoride

HSA hydrolysate storage area
HVAC heating, ventilation, and air conditioning

KAR Kentucky Administrative Regulations

KDEP Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
KRS Kentucky Revised Statutes

LT level transmitter

MDB munitions demilitarization building

MPT metal parts treater
MWS munitions washout system

OTE EBH off-gas treatment system

OTM off-gas treatment system

PEO ACWA Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical

Weapons Alternatives
PHS projectile handling system
ppb parts per billion

RCM rocket cutting machine

RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
RD&D Research, Development, and Demonstration
RHA residue handling area
RHS rocket handling system
RO reverse osmosis
RSM rocket shear machine

SCWO supercritical water oxidation

SDS spent decontamination solution

TOX thermal oxidizer

VX nerve agent
 Summary

The United States has signed and ratified the Chemical Weapons
Convention, which outlaws the production and possession of
chemical weapons and a number of related chemicals. To date, the
United States has destroyed about 90 percent of its stockpile, mostly
using incineration.
As part of the U.S. effort to destroy its remaining stockpile of
chemical munitions, the Department of Defense is building the Blue
Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) on the Blue
Grass Army Depot (BGAD), near Richmond, Kentucky. The stockpile
stored at BGAD consists of rockets and projectiles containing the
nerve agents GB and VX and the blister agent mustard. Continued
storage poses a risk to the BGAD workforce and the surrounding
community because these munitions are several decades old and are
developing leaks. The projectiles containing mustard agent will be
destroyed using a Static Detonation Chamber being built adjacent to
BGCAPP. BGCAPP will destroy the rockets and projectiles containing
GB and VX. The variety of munition and agent types, and the
degrading agent they contain, poses a variety of challenges to their
destruction.
 Due to public opposition to the use of incineration to destroy the
BGAD stockpile, Congress mandated that non-incineration
technologies be identified for use at BGCAPP.1 As a result, BGCAPP
will destroy the GB and VX by hydrolysis using hot caustic solution
(sodium hydroxide). To comply with the Chemical Weapons
Convention requirements for the destruction of chemical weapons,2
the resulting hydrolysates must be further treated. At BGCAPP, this
will be accomplished using supercritical water oxidation.
The original BGCAPP design called for munitions to be drained of
agent and then for the munition bodies to be washed out using high-
pressure hot water. However, during the course of committee
discussions related to the systemization of BGCAPP, several concerns
emerged that held the potential to compromise safe operations and
impede agent processing throughput in the plant. Much of the
concern focused on the mixture of agent and wash water that was
produced during agent drain and water washout operations. The
mixing water and VX has the potential to cause an autocatalytic
exothermic reaction that can lead to frothing and overflow in storage
tanks upstream of the agent neutralization reactors. The storage
tanks are not designed to contain the reaction, in contrast to the
neutralization reactors, which are designed to operate at high
temperature. Water and VX mixtures can also produce agent gels
that could impact agent destruction processes. Mixing water and GB
can produce significant hydrofluoric acid, which can be damaging to
the steel transfer lines between tanks.
As a result, as part of a larger package of modifications called
Engineering Change Proposal 87 (ECP-87), the munition washout
step was eliminated. However, implementing this solution will cause
larger quantities of agent—more than originally planned—to be
partitioned into different BGCAPP processes where agent destruction
for these larger quantities is unproven because those processes were
designed to treat only small amounts of residual agent. This could
have the unintended effect of compromising the ability of the plant
to achieve and demonstrate the Kentucky statutory requirement of
99.9999 percent destruction efficiency (DE).
 The Program Executive Officer for Assembled Chemical Weapons
Alternatives asked that an ad hoc study committee be formed to look
into the effects of deleting the water washout step. The statement of
task of the Committee on Effects of the Deletion of Chemical Agent
Washout on Operations at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent
Destruction Pilot Plant was as follows:

Assess the impact of the design change on plant operations and

the impacts to plant throughput, taking into account revised
rocket and projectile drain times, strainer change-out frequency,
and metal parts treater throughput;
Review and assess the calculations associated with the ability of
the metal parts treater and thermal oxidizer to effectively process
additional residual agent GB and VX contained in the drained
rocket and projectile munition bodies;
Review and assess the contractor’s approach to the destruction
efficiency (DE) calculations and provide any suggestions that
support the DE confirmation process; and,
Assess the validity of process modeling conducted to date and
recommend where additional modeling may be of benefit for
understanding likely plant operation performance.

BGCAPP is legally required to achieve what is termed “six-nines”

destruction of GB and VX, which means that it must be
demonstrated that the fraction of agent destroyed be greater than
0.999999, or alternatively, the fraction remaining must be less than
1 × 10−6 of what was originally present in the munitions. In the
original plant design, it was intended that almost all of the agent
would be processed by caustic hydrolysis through the agent
neutralization system (ANS). Of course, this was never strictly the
case because some vapors from the agent draining operations will
be vented into the munitions demilitarization building (MDB) heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) filtration system, and there
was always likely to be traces of agent remaining on the projectiles
and rocket warheads after the agent washout. But these quantities
were deemed to be negligible, and thus DE could be demonstrated
by merely measuring agent in the ANS hydrolysate to a
concentration equivalent to or less than 1 × 10−6 times that of the
concentration of agent fed into the unit.
The deletion of the water washout step will now result in
significant quantities of agent being partitioned into other process
streams of BGCAPP. The rocket warhead pieces (after the warheads
are drained and sheared) will contain more residual agent than
originally planned when they are sent to the energetics batch
hydrolyzer (EBH) units. These units, designed to hydrolyze the
energetic materials in the rocket warhead bursters, also contain
caustic (sodium hydroxide) at elevated temperature. Calculations by
BGCAPP predict that there will be sufficient excess caustic present to
ensure complete destruction of any agent that is partitioned to the
EBHs, and this expectation is supported by prior experience with
caustic hydrolysis of GB and VX. GB, on account of its solubility, will
very likely be completely eliminated from the caustic solution.
However, VX may survive as a result of incomplete mixing or as a
result of being sequestered in cracks in the metal parts. Destruction
efficiency of agent in the EBHs is not explicitly known and will need
to be demonstrated in order to provide a defensible calculation of
DE. In addition, there is also a chance that a fraction of the agent,
particularly GB, which has a lower boiling point, will be partitioned
into the off-gas stream from the EBHs into the EBH off-gas
treatment system (OTE). Significantly, the OTE is not designed to
destroy agent, which means that any agent that is volatilized in the
EBHs will instead be captured on the carbon filters of the MDB
HVAC. While extensive experience in the broader chemical
demilitarization program indicates that this outcome would be
protective of the public and the environment, BGCAPP believes that
it is not likely to be allowed to take credit for the removal of agent
vapor by the carbon bank adsorption prior to release of exhaust into
the atmosphere when DE is calculated per the Kentucky Revised
Statutes or the BGCAPP operating permit.3
The drained projectile bodies will also contain more residual agent
than originally planned. Because these items do not have energetics
components, they will be processed through the metal parts treater
(MPT). The MPT thermally decontaminates agent-contaminated
items by ensuring that they are exposed to 1,000°F for at least 15
minutes. Extensive operational experience and calculations by
BGCAPP indicate that processing time and temperature of the MPT
should be sufficient to destroy any extra agent partitioned into that
unit, but, as in the case of the EBHs, this will not be known until the
unit is actually operated. The gaseous effluent from the MPT flows
into the off-gas treatment system (OTM), which is equipped with a
thermal oxidizer (TOX), and the committee believes that the TOX will
destroy any fugitive agent vapors escaping from the MPT.
Demonstrating six-nines destruction after deletion of the washout
step will be significantly more difficult than originally planned due to
the change in the amount of agent now partitioned outside of the
ANS. BGCAPP personnel have considered two alternative
methodologies to determine DE, but these entail much more
measurement, and, in many cases, good analytical methods do not
currently exist. With some streams, like the caustic in the EBHs, it
may be difficult to measure agent concentration down to a level that
would demonstrate achievement of the DE criteria.
An attractive solution would be to count the agent trapped in the
MDB HVAC carbon beds as destroyed. However, the Kentucky
Department for Environmental Protection has stated that BGCAPP
may not take credit for measurements downstream of the carbon
filtration system without revision to the statute/guidelines; thus,
agent trapped in the MDB HVAC carbon beds cannot be counted as
destruction in the calculation of DE, even though the design and
build of this system is consistent with the capture/removal devices
approved for use in other (incineration) demilitarization facilities
where removal was considered in the calculation of “destruction
and/or removal efficiency” at those sites.4
These overarching assessments are summarized in a series of
findings and recommendations, which provide a summary of all of
the committee’s work. Chapter 2 assesses the process impacts of
washout deletion. Specific findings and recommendations are
focused on the effects of agent degradation over decades in storage
on the physical state of the agent and, hence, agent drain times. A
second issue is that the change-out of the filter socks used to
capture agent solids may be time consuming, even though new
socks with greater capacity have been introduced, and, with
washout deletion, the change-outs will demand additional time,
which has not been included in the process modeling. Additional
attention was focused on the potential for the impact of increased
agent loading to the OTM, although there are approaches for
ensuring a high DE. Similarly, the EBHs and units situated serially
downstream will be subjected to additional agent loading. The effect
of the washout deletion on agent loading to the MDB HVAC system
is uncertain at this time. It is likely that there will be additional agent
loading from the EBH-OTE process stream. In addition, there may be
a change in the amount of agent directed to the MDB HVAC from the
munitions-draining operations.

Finding 2-1. Uncertainty in the number of munitions containing

degraded agent and the degree of agent degradation is compounded
by a lack of knowledge of the physico-chemical characteristics of
degraded agent as they relate to drain times and amounts of
residual agent retained in munitions at the end of the drain process.
Better data are needed to properly estimate the time that will be
required to process the nerve agent munitions through BGCAPP.

Recommendation 2-1. BGCAPP should gather data, such as mass

drained, drain time, and any available information on physical state,
for each individual munition during operations ramp up to assess the
state of the agent fills and thus expected variability in drain times for
each agent lot and type of munition. The acquisition of these data
should continue throughout operations to continuously improve the
quality of estimates as an aid toward planning of plant operations
and to estimate completion times.

Finding 2-2. Even with the change in filter sock capacity, the
change-out frequency could become the rate-determining step in the
processing of rockets and projectiles.

Finding 2-3. Agent processed through the MPT and the off-gas
treatment system will constitute a significant fraction of the agent
destroyed at BGCAPP. This is a departure from the original design
where almost the entire agent volume was being treated by
hydrolysis.

Finding 2-4. Multiple mechanisms exist for controlling the MPT

throughput rate to reduce instantaneous agent loading in the MPT
and the off-gas treatment system. These include, but are not limited
to, approaches such as increasing the residence time in zone 1 of
the MPT, reducing the number of projectiles on each tray being
processed and increasing the steam addition rate to the MPT.

Recommendation 2-2. BGCAPP should evaluate whether higher

agent vaporization rates in the metal parts treater (MPT) can be
accommodated by optimizing the operating parameters of the MPT,
the off-gas treatment system, and associated systems.

Finding 2-5. With the deletion of munitions washout, some of the

chemical agent from the rocket warheads will be sent to the EBHs.
Some fraction of the agent introduced into the EBHs will be
volatilized and then flow into the EBH OTE. The OTE does not have a
TOX, so some of the agent transported from the EBH to the OTE
may penetrate to the MDB HVAC.

Recommendation 2-3. BGCAPP should conduct modeling and

experimental studies to bound the quantity of agent present in the
OTE vent stream (stream #8517).

Finding 2-6. During punch and drain operations, vapors are

released directly to the room air and are exhausted through the MDB
HVAC system. The primary mode of capture of these vapors is the
carbon filter bank. This function is part of the original plant process;
however, the washout deletion may affect agent concentrations in
the gas phase that will be transferred to the MDB HVAC system.
Recommendation 2-4. BGCAPP should complete modeling to
estimate the agent load to the carbon beds in the absence of a
munition washout step to ensure that the lifetime of these beds is
known.

As noted above, the washout deletion will have a pronounced

effect on the calculation of DE that is mandated by Kentucky Revised
Statutes; this is the subject of Chapter 3. Although some findings
and recommendations in Chapter 3 overlap with those offered in
Chapter 2, the focus in Chapter 3 is on the potential for washout
deletion to complicate the calculation of DE and supporting
measurements. Specifically, because an increased fraction of agent
will now be partitioned into the EBHs, a possible pathway for agent
would be any agent residual on the metal parts following processing
by the EBHs, which would then be transferred into the MPT. Given
the harsh treatment conditions in the EBH and MPT, it is not likely
that agent would survive these units; however, this has not been
demonstrated. Additionally, the EBHs generate energetics
hydrolysate. This hydrolysate is then sent to the energetics
neutralization system (ENS), which operates at a higher temperature
and pressure than the EBHs. BGCAPP calculations indicate that any
residual agent in the hydrolysate should be destroyed by the ENS,
but, again, this has not been demonstrated for the additional loading
that could result from washout deletion. The off-gas from the EBHs
may also contain some agent. This off-gas will be treated by the
OTE, which is not designed to destroy agent, and its capacity to do
so is unknown.
After washout deletion, the facility OTM will need to accommodate
more agent than was originally intended. It is probably capable of
doing this, but BGCAPP will need to demonstrate this in order to
provide assurance of DE. The particles formed in the TOX unit of the
OTM will very likely be free of agent, as a consequence of the high
temperature and residence time of the agent in the TOX. However,
BGCAPP will need to demonstrate DE for this solid waste stream
from the TOX.
 To account for the possibility of agent in these non-ANS effluent
streams, BGCAPP has considered two possible alternative
approaches to the original approach (called Approach 1) for
demonstrating DRE. The first alternative, Approach 2, would
measure the difference in agent quantities in the feed and effluent
streams from specific individual units. The second alternative,
Approach 3, would assume a bulk quantity in the munitions input
lines, while measuring agent quantities in the effluent streams from
all treatment units. As stated in the findings below, Approach 2 is
not viable for demonstrating DE criteria because it does not include
all possible agent-contaminated streams. Approach 3 is more
achievable but would present significant challenges in developing
measurement methodologies for the different forms of effluent.
One recommendation related to the physical plant did emerge
from the committee’s extended DE discussion. It was noted that
because the OTE was not designed to destroy organics (such as
agent), a possible modification might be to send the off-gas from the
OTE into the OTM, which is designed to destroy organics and is
expected to be able to destroy agent.

Finding 3-1. With washout deletion, the current methodology for

calculating whether BGCAPP meets the statutory and regulatory
requirement for a DE of 99.9999 percent will no longer be
applicable. This is because the drained and washed out agent will no
longer go only to the ANS. Instead, a greater amount of residual
agent remaining in the rocket warhead pieces will now be processed
in the EBHs and the ENS, and residual agent in the projectiles and
possibly on rocket warhead pieces will now be processed through
the MPT.

Finding 3-2. The partitioning of agent across additional process

streams will introduce monitoring challenges that BGCAPP needs to
be aware of. It may be difficult to identify monitoring technologies or
strategies of sufficient sensitivity to measure what are expected to
be low concentrations of agent in some streams. Additionally, the
identification of new technologies or strategies carries the risk of a
negative impact on the BGCAPP schedule.

Finding 3-3. It is likely that the combination of the EBH and MPT
treatment conditions will be sufficient to destroy all residual agent
residing on rocket warhead pieces. This, however, needs to be
shown through either calculations or demonstration.

Recommendation 3-1. BGCAPP should calculate or otherwise

demonstrate a 99.9999 percent (“six-nines”) destruction efficiency
(DE) for residual agent residing on rocket warhead pieces exiting the
metals parts treatment unit (MPT). This would provide assurance
that the solid effluent from the MPT (stream #7652) generated
during rocket campaigns is free of agent to ensure compliance with
DE requirements.

Finding 3-4. Complete destruction of augmented agent loadings

passing through the EBH/ENS system has not been demonstrated.

Recommendation 3-2. BGCAPP should demonstrate satisfactory

destruction efficiency for agent serially treated with caustic under
the same conditions as those present in the energetics batch
hydrolyzers (EBHs) and the energetics neutralization system at agent
loadings equivalent to the highest quantities anticipated to be
treated by the EBHs without washout.

Finding 3-5. An unknown fraction of agent entering the EBHs

during the rocket campaigns may undergo volatilization instead of
hydrolysis. Volatilized agent will be processed through the OTE
system (stream #8517), which is not designed to destroy agent.
Agent escaping the OTE will be removed to the MDB HVAC carbon
filter banks, together with fugitive agent emissions from the
munition drain processes. Because agent partitioned into these
pathways cannot be counted as destroyed, and because BGCAPP
believes it is not likely to be allowed to take credit for removal of
agent vapor by carbon bank adsorption in the MDB HVAC prior to
release of exhaust to the atmosphere, the implementation of
washout deletion will require significant permit modifications and has
the potential to prevent BGCAPP from achieving DE criteria.

Recommendation 3-3. For all of the gaseous process streams,

BGCAPP should rigorously demonstrate that negligible agent is
partitioned into the munitions demilitarization building (MDB)
heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) carbon filter banks
under all conditions that could arise during the rocket campaign.
BGCAPP should provide for monitoring of the OTE effluent stream
(#8517) with analytical sensitivity sufficient to ensure that
destruction efficiency criteria are achieved before they enter the
MDB HVAC system.

Recommendation 3-4. BGCAPP should examine the possibility of

routing the gaseous effluent from the OTE (energetics batch
hydrolyzer off-gas treatment system) into the OTM (off-gas
treatment system). This would eliminate the biggest uncertainties in
MOut exiting the munitions demilitarization building (MDB), because it
is likely that any agent surviving the OTE would be destroyed in the
OTM. The number of gaseous streams from processing units exiting
the MDB would be reduced to a single stream—namely, the off-gas
from the OTM—and would be less likely to contain significant agent
as a result of off-gas passing through the thermal oxidizer.

Finding 3-6. It is likely that the combination of the MPT and the
OTM will completely destroy any agent entering the MPT. However,
after washout deletion, the OTM will receive gaseous streams from
other sources that may contain more agent than originally planned.
It is currently unknown whether the OTM can adequately treat the
combined load of all streams after washout deletion.

Recommendation 3-5. BGCAPP should measure solid, gaseous,

and liquid effluents from the OTM (off-gas treatment system) during
initial projectile campaigns to ensure that these effluents meet the
destruction efficiency criteria.
Finding 3-7. The solid waste stream from the OTM should be
agent-free. This conclusion will need to be demonstrated to the
Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection based on
validated process controls and statistical testing.

Finding 3-8. Approach 2 is not an appropriate option for the

calculation of DE. It is incomplete because it does not include the
gaseous emissions from the OTE—which, under the new
configuration, may contain agent—and because it is not
operationally practical to measure agent quantities in the feed to,
and effluent from, the individual process units.

Finding 3-9. Approach 3 could conceivably be used for a

defendable DE determination, because it accounts for the OTE
gaseous process stream #8517, provided it is modified to include the
fugitive releases of agent vapor directed to the MDB HVAC system.
However, Approach 3 would require development of additional
methodologies for measuring masses of agent partitioned into the
two gaseous waste streams entering the MDB HVAC system.

Recommendation 3-6. If Approach 3 is adopted, then BGCAPP

should evaluate the concentrations of agent liable to be present in
all gaseous process streams and develop measurement approaches
with sufficient sensitivity to ensure that destruction efficiency criteria
are being achieved.

Finding 3-10. The performance requirements for the analytical

measurement methodology for measuring agent in the off-gas
process stream from the OTE (#8517) are not known, because the
fraction of agent that will be partitioned into this stream is uncertain.

Recommendation 3-7. If Recommendation 3-4 is not pursued,

BGCAPP should conduct research to determine what fraction of GB
agent might partition into the off-gas process stream from the OTE
(energetics batch hydrolyzer off-gas treatment system) and then use
this information to set analytical performance requirements that can
be used to identify analytical measurement methodology.

Chapter 4 addresses the modeling of munitions throughput at

BGCAPP, which is done using an overall process model (rather than
individual process models). Input parameters were based on point
observations made by BGCAPP staff, which may well be accurate in
the mean. However, the committee does not believe that the
expected variability in plant operational parameters is reflected in
the model.
An area of repeated concern for BGCAPP and for the committee
was the accuracy of estimates of the time required to drain the
munitions. Inaccurate drain-time estimates have the potential to
result in inaccurate model throughput estimates. The committee
believes that the best approach for estimating drain times would be
to capture information on munition drain operations from individuals
who have actually conducted these activities at other demilitarization
sites. There may also be opportunities to collect actual operating
data during systemization and as plant operations begin at BGCAPP.
Another process concern is that of filter sock change-out, which is
related to the issue of draining in that both processes are affected
by the extent of solids and gels in the munitions. In general,
BGCAPP staff have attempted to be conservative in all of their
parameter estimates, but it is also clear that many of the parameters
potentially have large variances (e.g., the amount of agent fill that
cannot be drained). With regard to bounding the output of the
model, it would be useful to run the model with input parameters
equivalent to the highest and lowest levels that could be
encountered. Finally, statistical quality control might have significant
utility for managing operations.

Finding 4-1. While the process model explores the influence of

variations in operating parameters on the performance of BGCAPP,
the limited treatment of the stochastic nature of those parameters
does not reflect operational experience.
Finding 4-2. The reliance on point estimates in the model data
does raise concerns about the ability of the model to accurately
forecast future facility operations in terms of the length of time to
complete the processing of the chemical weapons and the risks
involved in operating the facility.

Finding 4-3. The stochastic nature of the gelling or crystallization

of the GB agent may still be partially retrievable. A formal debriefing
of individuals who have drained munitions to capture the (informal
and clearly anecdotal) nature of the condition of the agent in the
weapons might be useful in developing more believable assumptions
as to the condition and variability of the chemical agents in the
weapons.

Recommendation 4-1. BGCAPP should retrieve and document

historical (informal and anecdotal) data on munition drain times and
run these data, complete with ranges of uncertainty, through the
BGCAPP model.

Finding 4-4. The actual filter sock change-out rate may be the
most important rate-limiting factor in BGCAPP operations and may
be underestimated.

Finding 4-5. Analysis of the sensitivity of the BGCAPP operations to

variations in model input parameters might expose potential
operational issues, allowing them to be quantified and possibly
mitigated prior to operations.

Recommendation 4-2. BGCAPP should design and execute a

series of modeling experiments to determine the sensitivity of
operations to variations in operating parameters, reflecting the
stochastic nature of some processes. Examples of parameters
include maintenance and repair times, added characterization steps,
retreatment for batches not meeting destruction efficiency, and
compounding problems such as long munitions drain times together
with very frequent filter sock change-outs. The results of these
experiments should be used to prepare for potential challenges and
mitigate them ahead of time as much as possible.

Finding 4-6. Point estimates of operational parameters are only a

starting point. To fully understand the plant operation and,
ultimately, to understand the plant timeline, one needs data on the
distribution of parameter values that may be encountered during
operation.

Recommendation 4-3. During start-up, and continuing through

plant operations, BGCAPP should gather data for relevant model
parameters with sufficient resolution to assess the probability density
functions for these parameters.

Finding 4-7. Statistical quality control could be a useful

management tool for understanding and identifying possible
problems as they occur.

Recommendation 4-4. BGCAPP should give attention to

developing analysis tools such as statistical quality control prior to
actual facility start-up.

__________________
1 A similar neutralization plant is also being completed at Pueblo Chemical Depot
in Pueblo, Colorado.
2Destruction of chemical weapons means a process by which chemicals are
converted in an essentially irreversible way to a form unsuitable for production of
chemical weapons and which, in an irreversible manner, renders munitions and
other devises unusable as such (Chemical Weapons Convention, Annex on
Implementation and Verification, Part IV (A), Destruction of Chemical Weapons
and Its Verification Pursuant to Article IV).
3 John McArthur, environmental manager, BPBG, “Destruction Efficiency
Considerations,” presentation to the committee on September 9, 2015.
4 NRC Washout Deletion Committee Questions and Responses 151029, received
via e-mail on December 8, 2015.
 1

Introduction

The United States manufactured significant quantities of chemical

weapons during the Cold War and years prior. Because the chemical
weapons are aging, storage constitutes an ongoing risk to the facility
workforces and to the communities nearby. In addition, the Chemical
Weapons Convention (CWC) treaty, which the United States has ratified,
stipulates that the chemical weapons be destroyed. The United States has
destroyed approximately 90 percent of the chemical weapons stockpile
located at seven sites.1 However, there are remaining stockpiles at the
Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) in Richmond, Kentucky, and the Pueblo
Chemical Depot in Pueblo, Colorado.
At BGAD, the chemical weapons filled with the nerve agents GB and VX
pose particularly complicated destruction challenges that stem from a
relatively diverse collection of weapons. The nerve agent-filled weapons at
BGAD include about 52,000 115-mm rockets and 4,000 8-inch projectiles
that are GB filled, and just under 18,000 115-mm rockets and 13,000
155-mm projectiles that are VX filled (NRC, 2005). Each rocket contains
about 10.7 or 10.1 pounds of GB or VX, respectively. The 8-inch
projectiles contain 14.4 pounds of GB, while the 155-mm projectiles
contain 6 pounds of VX. The projectiles do not have energetics. The
rockets, however, contain (in addition to agent) about 19 pounds of M28
propellant (nitroglycerine, nitrocellulose, and other additives) and about
3.2 pounds of Composition B explosive (59.5 percent RDX and 39.4
percent TNT) in bursters. There are also more than 15,000 155-mm
projectiles filled with mustard agent, but the destruction of these items
will utilize a static detonation chamber, and thus they are not a
consideration of this study.
In response to a congressional mandate that destruction technologies
other than incineration be identified and implemented at BGAD,2 a
process based on caustic hydrolysis of the agents has been adopted. The
Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) has been
built at BGAD to destroy the BGAD stockpile using these technologies. The
initial process used at BGCAPP to extract agent from the munitions varies
depending on whether a rocket or a projectile is being destroyed. Figure
1-1 shows the processing flow of munitions through BGCAPP.
The following sections describe munitions processing at a high level. As
will be discussed below, an agent washout step has been deleted from
the munitions processing processes. The process flows are largely
unchanged by the deletion of the washout step. Thus, the process
descriptions below describe what will happen, with the divergences
resulting from washout deletion called out where they occur.

PROCESSING OF ROCKET WARHEADS

Rockets will be processed in the rocket handling system (RHS), where
the rocket cutting machine first separates the rocket motors from the
agent-containing warheads. Uncontaminated motors will be sent off-site
for destruction, and contaminated motors will eventually be sent to the
energetics batch hydrolyzers (EBHs).3 The rocket shear machine in the
RHS punches and drains the warheads, generating two process streams,
one liquid and one solid. The liquid stream consists of drained agents,
while the solid stream consists of the drained warheads. Upon draining,
the liquid agents will be directed through a three-way valve to a strainer,
where solids that might clog the agent pump will be removed by filtration.
The liquid will then be sent through a second discharge strainer that
removes solids, which are primarily gelled or otherwise solidified agent
that might interfere with subsequent hydrolysis reactions downstream.
The filtered agents will then be transferred to the agent collection system
(ACS).

FIGURE 1-1 Block diagram showing the processing units and the flow of
products at BGCAPP. Process streams represented by colored arrows
represent projectiles or rockets entering, the process (green), solid materials
(black), liquids (blue), and gases (red). Colored diamonds indicate
measurement points along each process stream as they exit the munitions
demilitarization building (i.e., the area where agent could conceivably be
present). NOTE: Acronyms spelled out in front matter. SOURCE: Adapted from
J. McArthur, environmental manager, BPBG, “Destruction Efficiency
Considerations,” presentation to the committee on September 9, 2015.

In the original BGCAPP design, the rocket warhead bodies were to be

washed out in the RHS with high-pressure, hot water that would have
mechanically removed most of the residual agent on the interior walls of
the munitions casing and broken up gelled and solidified materials that
might have been present in the agents. This latter function, loosening and
breaking up gels and solids, was deemed important because it had been
estimated that solids and gels accounted for up to 20 percent of the GB in
the munitions or up to 4 percent of the VX. The rinsate from the washout
process was then to be directed through one of two strainer-pump-
strainer trains via the three-way valve, in this case depositing the rinsate
liquid into a tank that holds spent decontamination solution (SDS) (i.e.,
the SDS holding tank). The rinsate was then recombined with the drained
agent before being sent to the agent neutralization system (ANS). The
water washout ensured that nearly all agent would be processed through
the ANS. This allowed measurement of any untreated agent at a single
exit point from the Munitions Demilitarization Building (MDB), in order to
meet the destruction efficiency (DE) requirements stipulated in the
Research, Development, and Demonstration permit issued by the
Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection to BGAD and BGCAPP
on September 30, 2005, and in the Kentucky Administrative Regulations
and the Kentucky Revised Statutes.
Before leaving the discussion of the generation of the liquid product in
the RHS, it should be noted that, periodically, the filter media used in the
strainers (referred to as filter socks) are expected to become clogged and
require change-out. This process requires an operator equipped with
appropriate personal protective equipment to enter the agent processing
room to manually install new filter socks and place the clogged socks in a
tray for eventual transfer to the EBHs for thermal destruction, as
described later in this chapter. Manual entry is a time-consuming process
with the potential to affect the overall safety and destruction schedule of
BGCAPP.
The agent and wash water generated by the RHS would then be
combined in the ANS to be hydrolyzed in a concentrated sodium
hydroxide solution. The committee noted that when the process modified
by elimination of the washout is used, only drained agent will be sent to
the ANS. This hydrolysis occurring in the ANS eliminates the acute toxicity
of the agent and generates a product that is referred to as hydrolysate,
which is analyzed for residual agent. If the concentration of agent in the
hydrolysate meets the specified release criteria (which are still to be
determined), it is then transferred out of the MDB to the agent
hydrolysate storage tank (located in the hydrolysate storage area [HSA]).4
The hydrolysate is then destroyed in the supercritical water oxidation
system. Destruction of the hydrolysate is important, because it eliminates
the possibility of intentionally recovering the primary hydrolysis products,
which could be reacted to regenerate the original agents. As such,
hydrolysate destruction is a requirement of the CWC. Hydrolysate
treatment is not part of the statement of task for this report. Assuming
that the clearance criteria for effluents from the MDB remain the same,
washout deletion should not impact hydrolysate treatment. Therefore,
hydrolysate treatment is not discussed in this report. The headspace
gases from the ACS and the agent neutralization reactor (ANR) have the
potential to contain agent, and are, therefore, further processed through
the off-gas treatment system (OTM).
The solid process stream from the RHS consists of the warhead cavities
along with their energetics-filled bursters, which, under the original
BGCAPP design, were to be washed out at the RHS to remove residual
agent.5 These solid components are then to be sheared into segments
and transferred to the EBHs, where they are subjected to a hot (241°F at
1 atm), concentrated sodium hydroxide solution that destroys the
energetics in the rocket warhead and dissolves a significant fraction of the
aluminum.6 There are to be three process streams from the EBHs: liquids,
solids, and headspace gases.
The liquid effluent from the EBHs, which contains significant aluminum,
is sent to the energetics neutralization reactors where it will be neutralized
at 300°F and a pressure of 3.1 atm. This liquid product is fed to the
aluminum precipitation system and then to the aluminum filtration system
to remove the aluminum contained in this stream. The liquid effluent from
the aluminum filtration system undergoes final treatment in the
supercritical water oxidation, while the solid aluminum-bearing precipitate
is transferred off-site for disposal.
The gaseous effluent from the EBHs will be sent to the energetics off-
gas treatment system (OTE), which consists of a scrubber and a particle
filtration system. The scrubber functions to remove ammonia and
energetics degradation products that may be present in the off-gas, while
the filter removes particles greater than 3 mm in diameter. The gaseous
effluent was originally deemed to be largely free from the possibility of
agent contamination because, due to washout, only small residual
amounts of agent were to be sent to the EBH in the first place. This is
now not the case. Gaseous effluent from the OTE flows into the MDB
heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.
The solid process stream from the EBHs consists of undissolved metal
parts that are periodically removed and sent to the metal parts treater
(MPT) for final treatment. The MPT heats these metal components to
1,000°F and operates under a superheated steam atmosphere (125 lbs/h)
to ensure pyrolytic degradation of agent. These conditions have been
deemed sufficient to destroy any residual agent.
 The MPT has two product streams: scrap metal, which exits the MDB
for off-site disposal, and off-gas, which is sent to the OTM. The OTM is
distinct from the OTE in terms of gaseous input and unit operations, as
described below.
The OTM receives gaseous waste streams from the MPT, SDS, ACS, and
ANS, and also from the energetics neutralization system. The OTM
consists of a thermal oxidizer (TOX), followed by a Venturi scrubber and a
cyclone. The TOX functions to thermally oxidize any residual organics and
to remove any particulate solids that might originate from the MPT. The
OTM was not specifically designed to destroy agent but would likely do
that effectively.7 The TOX consists of two sections, an oxidizing section
and a quench section. Sufficient air is added to the oxidizing section to
ensure that the residual oxygen level in the TOX is at least 5 percent.
Natural gas and a fine mist of water are added to maintain the operating
temperature at 2,000°F. The TOX can operate at temperatures as high as
2,200°F if the process gas feed has a higher heating value. This higher
operating temperature is needed when contaminated wood pallets, or
shipping and firing tubes from the rocket handling system, are processed
in the MPT. The oxidizing section has a minimum gas residence time of 2
seconds at a minimum temperature of 2,000°F. This residence time is
required for destruction of polychlorinated biphenyls that will be present
during processing of leakers. In the quench section, a fine mist of water is
supplied to bring the exit temperature to 1,200°F. The MPT-OTM
combination was designed to ensure that no residual agent would survive
these combined processes.
The OTM has three process streams, all of which exit the MDB. The
solid process stream (#7652) will be particulate from the TOX, which will
likely be free of agent because the TOX operates at high temperature.
The liquid process stream (#820) from the OTM, consisting of water used
in the Venturi scrubber, will be sent to the aluminum precipitation system.
The gaseous process stream (#807) will be transferred to the MDB HVAC
system.

PROCESSING OF PROJECTILES
Because the projectiles do not contain energetics, their processing does
not require the EBHs and associated downstream systems. Instead, the
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
if he had listened, the full history of the emotions of the Comte de
Spoleto. He escaped from them to visit his patient.
The Prince was much cheered by a night of sleep, still excessively
interested in his injuries, but now hopeful about them. He gave
great honour to Reggie’s treatment of the case. “My dear sir, I must
consider it providential that you were on board. Oh, but certainly
providential.”
“Well, sir, the affair might have taken a different turn without me,”
Reggie admitted modestly.
“Indeed, yes,” said His Highness. “Good God, Mr. Fortune, and how I
resented your appearance yesterday!” He became thoughtful. “I
think what annoyed me most was that any one should have
discovered my plans.” He gazed at Reggie. “Are you free to tell me,
Mr. Fortune? I am much interested to know what brought you here.
Did Hilda say anything to her mother? Or is there a traitor in my
camp? Spoleto—that little actress?”
“Here’s the traitor, sir.” Reggie took out of his pocket the Hottentot
Venus.
“Good heavens!” The Prince took her affectionately. “My new
palæolithic Venus.”
“You left her in the library at the Tormouth school. There are not
many men in the world who have a Hottentot Venus to lose. So she
suggested to me that the Prince of Ragusa was taking action with
regard to Hilda Crowland.”
“You have a great deal of acumen, Mr. Fortune,” said the Prince, and
the sound of the cable broke off the conversation.
There is a hospital at Tormouth. The Comte de Spoleto went on
shore to bring off its X-ray man. Reggie stretched himself in a deck
chair to wait events.
They were not long in arriving. A shore boat brought off the Hon.
Stanley Lomas, dapper as ever, and a woman whom Reggie
identified by her hair and her magnificent figure as the mother of
Hilda—Mrs. Crowland—the Princess of Ragusa. Reggie went down
the gangway to meet them.
Lomas sprang out of the boat. The Princess was handed out and
went up the gangway. “Good God, Fortune!” Lomas shook hands.
“You’re a wonder! How did you bring them back?”
“Genius—just genius.”
The Princess had met her daughter who was not abashed. “Hilda!
Why do you do this extraordinary thing?”
And Hilda said quietly, “I wanted to know my father.”
“You make us all ridiculous,” the Princess cried.
“I don’t feel that.” Hilda put up her chin.
“May I present Mr. Fortune, ma’am?” Lomas put in.
Reggie bowed. “I am sorry to tell you, madame, that the Prince has
had an accident. A fall down the companion. He is in bed. I am
waiting for an X-ray to be taken of his arm. But I assure you there is
no cause for alarm.”
“I am not alarmed,” said the Princess. “I wish to see him.”
“Certainly. You will not forget that I have told him I represent you.”
“It was an impertinence, Mr. Fortune,” said the Princess, and swept
to the companion. The door of the Prince’s cabin was shut on her.
“Jam for the Prince.” Reggie made a grimace at Lomas.
“Strictly speaking, what’s my locus standi?” said the Chief of the
Criminal Investigation Department.
“Don’t funk, Lomas. I dare say she’ll murder him. That’s where you
come in.”
So they were depressed till the return of the anxious Spoleto with
his X-ray man. Reggie descended upon the Prince and Princess. She
was sitting upon his bed. She was smiling. She kissed her hand to
His Highness as she went out.
All which Reggie observed with a face of stone.
“I am infinitely your debtor, Mr. Fortune,” His Highness beamed. “You
are not married, no?”
“It becomes every day less probable,” said Reggie grimly.
“One never knows the beauty of a woman’s nature till one is
suffering,” said His Highness.
The X-rays were put to work on the arm, and the operator and
Reggie went off to the yacht’s dark room. As the plate came out, “I
see no injury, Mr. Fortune,” the operator complained.
“Fancy that,” said Reggie.
Outside the dark room the Princess was impatiently waiting. “Well,
Mr. Fortune?”
“Well, madame, there will be no need of an operation.”
The Princess frowned at him. “I suppose I am much obliged to you,
Mr. Fortune. I wish to hear more of your part in the affair.”
Reggie, he has confessed, trembled. The Princess swept on. She
opened the door of the music-room. She revealed Hilda and Spoleto.
Hilda was being vehemently kissed.
Reggie fled. Professional instinct, he explains, took him back to his
patient. “I am very pleased to tell you, sir, that there is no serious
injury to the arm. Rest and good nursing are all that is now needed.”
His Highness laughed like a boy and began to chatter—all about
himself.
Reggie broke in at the first chance. “It is a satisfaction to me that I
leave you in such good spirits, sir.”
His Highness overflowed with gratitude. He did not know how to
thank Mr. Fortune—what to offer him.
“If I might have this little lady, sir.” Reggie took up the Hottentot
Venus. “It would be a pleasant memento of an interesting
adventure.” And so he went off with the Hottentot Venus in his
pocket. He hurried on deck to the uneasy Lomas. “You were right,
Lomas. You are always right. We have no locus standi. And where’s
that shore boat?” They embarked hurriedly and rowed away from
the royal house of Ragusa. “In heaven,” said Reggie, “there is
neither marrying nor giving in marriage. That’s why I’m going there.
Look at her”—he produced the Hottentot Venus—“she’s the only
sensible woman I ever knew. Lomas, my dear old man, do you know
you will have to explain all this to your sister?”
The Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department groaned aloud.

CASE VI
 THE BUSINESS MINISTER

Phase I.—The Scandal

“‘OH,as,totrying
be in England now that April’s here,’” said Reggie Fortune
to hide himself in his coat, he slipped and slid down
the gangway to his native land. The Boulogne boat behind him, lost
in driving snow, could be inferred from escaping steam and the
glimmer of a rosette of lights. “The Flying Dutchman’s new packet,”
Reggie muttered, and hummed the helmsman’s song from the
opera, till a squall coming round the corner stung what of his face he
could not bury like small shot.
He continued to suffer. The heat in the Pullman was tinned. He did
not like the toast. The train ran slow, and whenever he wiped the
steamy window he saw white-blanketed country and fresh swirls of
snow. So he came into Victoria some seven hours late, and it had no
taxi. He said what he could. You imagine him, balanced by the two
suit-cases which he could not bear to part with, wading through
deep snow from the Tube station at Oxford Circus to Wimpole
Street, and subsiding limp but still fluent into the arms of Sam his
factotum. And the snow went on falling.
It was about this time, in his judgment 11 p.m. on 15th April, that a
man fell from the top story of Montmorency House, the hugest and
newest of the new blocks of flats thereabouts. He fell down the well
which lights the inner rooms and, I suppose, made something of a
thud as his body passed through the cushion of snow and hit the
concrete below. But in the howl of the wind and the rattle of
windows it would have been extraordinary if any one had heard him
or taken him for something more than a slate or a chimney pot. He
was not in a condition to explain himself. And the snow went on
falling.
Mr. Fortune, though free from his coat and his hat and his scarf and
his gloves, though scorching both hands and one foot at the hall fire,
was still telling Sam his troubles when the Hon. Stanley Lomas came
downstairs. Mr. Fortune said, “Help!”
“Had a good time?” said Lomas cheerily. “Did you get to Seville?”
“Oh, Peter, don’t say things like that. I can’t bear it. Have the
feelings of a man. Be a brother, Lomas. I’ve been in nice, kind
countries with a well-bred climate, and I come back to this epileptic
blizzard, and here’s Lomas pale and perky waiting for me on the
mat. And then you’re civil! Oh, Sophonisba! Sophonisba, oh!”
“I did rather want to see you,” Lomas explained.
“I hate seeing you. I hate seeing anything raw and alive. If you talk
to me I shall cry. My dear man, have you had dinner?”
“Hours ago.”
“That wasn’t quite nice of you, you know. When you come to see
me, you shouldn’t dine first. It makes me suspect your taste. Well,
well! Come and see me eat. That is a sight which has moved strong
men to tears, the pure ecstasy of joy, Lomas. The sublime and the
beautiful, by R. Fortune. And Sam says Elise has a timbale de foie
gras and her very own entrecôte. Dine again, Whittington. And we
will look upon the wine when it is red. My Chambertin is strongly
indicated. And then I will fall asleep for a thousand years, same like
the Sleeping Beauty.”
“I wish I could.”
“Lomas, old dear!” Reggie turned and looked him over. “Yes, you
have been going it. You ought to get away.”
“I dare say I shall. That is one of the things I’m going to ask you—
what you think about resignation.”
“Oh, Peter! As bad as that?” Reggie whistled. “Sorry I was futile. But
I couldn’t know. There’s been nothing in the papers.”
“Only innuendoes. Damme, you can’t get away from it in the clubs.”
They had it out over dinner.
Some months before a new Government had been formed, which
was advertised to bring heaven down to earth without delay. And the
first outward sign of its inward and spiritual grace was the Great
Coal Ramp. Some folks in the City began to buy the shares of certain
coal companies. Some folks in the City began to spread rumours that
the Government was going to nationalize mines district by district—
those districts first in which the shares had been bought. The shares
then went to a vast price.
“All the usual nauseating features of a Stock Exchange boom,” said
Reggie.
“No. This is founded on fact,” said Lomas. “That’s the distinguishing
feature. It was worked on the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth. Whoever started the game had exact and precise
information. They only touched those companies which the
Government meant to take over; they knew everything and they
knew it right. Somebody of the inner circle gave the plan away.”
“‘Politics is a cursed profession,’” said Reggie.
Lomas looked gloomily at his Burgundy. “Politicians are almost the
lowest of God’s creatures,” he agreed. “I know that. I’m a Civil
servant. But I don’t see how any of them can have had a finger in
this pie. The scheme hadn’t come before the Cabinet. Everybody
knew, of course, that something was going to be done. But the
whole point is the particular companies concerned in this primary
provisional scheme. And nobody knew which they were but the
President of the Board of Trade and his private secretary.”
“The President—that’s Horace Kimball.”
“Yes. No politics about him. He’s the rubber king, you know. He was
brought in on the business men for a business Cabinet cry. He was
really put there to get these nationalization schemes through.”
“And he begins by arousing city scandal. Business men and business
methods. Well, well! Give me the politicians after all. I was born
respectable. I would rather be swindled in the quiet, old-fashioned
way. I like a sense of style.”
“Quite—quite,” said Lomas heartily. “But I must say I have nothing
against Kimball. He is the usual thing. Thinks he is like Napoleon—
pathetically anxious you should suppose he has been educated. But
he really is quite an able fellow, and he means to be civil. Only he’s
mad to catch the fellow who gave his scheme away. I don’t blame
him. But it’s damned awkward.”
“If only Kimball and his private secretary knew, either Kimball or the
private secretary gave it away.”
“My dear Fortune, if you say things like that, I shall break down.
That is the hopeless sort of jingle I say in my sleep. I believe
Kimball’s honest. That’s his reputation. As keen as they make ’em,
but absolutely straight. And why should he play double? He is
ridiculously rich. If he wanted money it was idiotic to go into the
Government. He would do much better for himself in business. No;
he must have gone into politics for power and position and so on.
And then at the start his career is mucked by a financial scandal.
You can’t suppose he had a hand in it. It’s too mad.”
“Remains the private secretary. Don’t Mr. Kimball like his private
secretary?”
“Oh, yes. Kimball thinks very well of him. I pointed out to Kimball
that on the facts we were bound to suspect Sandford, and he was
quite huffy about it—said he had the highest opinion of Sandford,
asked what evidence I had, and so on.”
“Very good and proper, and even intelligent. My respects to H.
Kimball. What evidence have you, Lomas, old thing?”
“You just put the case yourself,” said Lomas, with some irritation.
“Only Kimball and Sandford were in the secret. It’s impossible in the
nature of things Kimball should have sold it. Remains Sandford.”
“Oh, Peter! That’s not evidence, that’s an argument.”
“I know, confound you. But there is evidence of a sort. One of
Sandford’s friends is a young fellow called Walkden, and he’s in one
of the firms which have been running the Stock Exchange boom.”
“It’s queer,” said Reggie, and lit a pipe. “But it wouldn’t hang a
yellow dog.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” Lomas cried. “We have nothing to
act on, and they’re all cursing me because we haven’t!”
“Meaning Kimball?”
“Kimball—Kimball’s calling twice a day to know how the case is going
on, please. But the whole Government’s on it now. Minutes from the
Home Secretary—bitter mems. from the Prime Minister. They want a
scapegoat, of course. Governments do.”
“Find us some one to hang or we’ll hang you?”
“I told you I was thinking of resigning.”
“Because they want to bully you into making a case against the
private secretary—and you have a conscience?”
“Lord, no. I’d convict him to-day if I could. I don’t like the fellow.
He’s a young prig. But I can’t convict him. No; I don’t think they
want to hang anybody in particular. But they must have somebody to
hang, and I can’t find him.”
“It isn’t much in my way,” Reggie murmured. “The Civil Service
frightens me. I have a brother-in-law in the Treasury. Sometimes he
lets me dine with him. Meditations among the Tombs for Reginald.
No. It isn’t much in my way. I want passion and gore. But you
intrigue me, Lomas, you do indeed. I would know more of H. Kimball
and Secretary Sandford. They worry me.”
“My God, they worry me,” said Lomas heartily.
“They are too good to be true. I wonder if there’s any other nigger
in the wood pile?”
“Well, I can’t find him.”
“Hope on, hope ever. Don’t you remember it was the dowager
popped the Bohun sapphires? And don’t you resign. If the Prime
Minister sends you another nasty mem., say you have your eye on
his golf pro. A man who putts like that must have something on his
conscience. And don’t you resign for all the politicians outside hell. It
may be they want to get rid of you. I’ll come and see you to-
morrow.”
“I wish you would,” said Lomas. “You have a mighty good eye for a
face.”
“My dear old thing! I never believe in faces, that’s all. The only one I
ever liked was that girl who broke her sister-in-law’s nose. But I’ll
come round.”
Comforted by wine and sympathy, Lomas was sent away to trudge
home through a foot of snow. And the snow went on falling.

Phase II.—The Private Secretary

The snow lingered. Though hoses washed it out of the highways, in
every side street great mounds lay unmelted, and the park was
dingily white. Reggie shivered as he got out of his car in Scotland
Yard, and he scurried upstairs and put himself as close as he could
to Lomas’s fire—ousting Superintendent Bell.
“I’m waiting for you,” said Lomas quietly. “There’s a new fact. Three
thousand pounds has been paid into Sandford’s account. It was
handed in over the counter in notes of small amounts yesterday
morning. Cashier fancies it was paid in by a stoutish man in glasses
—couldn’t undertake to identify.”
“It’s a wicked world, Lomas. That wouldn’t matter so much if it was
sensible. Some day I will take to crime, just to show you how to do
it. Who is Sandford, what is he, that such queer things happen
round him?”
“I don’t know so much about queer, sir,” said Superintendent Bell. “I
suppose this three thousand is his share of the swag.”
“That’s what we’re meant to suppose,” Reggie agreed. “That’s what I
resent.”
“You mean, why the devil should he have it put in the bank? He
must know his account would be watched. That’s the point I took,”
said Lomas wearily.
“Well, sir, as I was saying, it’s the usual sort of thing,”
Superintendent Bell protested. “When a city gang has bought a
fellow in a good position and got all they can get out of him, it often
happens they don’t care any more about him. They’d rather break
him than not. It happened in the Bewick affair, the Grantley deal
——” He reeled off a string of cases. “What I mean to say, sir, there
isn’t honour among thieves. When they see one of themselves in a
decent position, they’ll do him in if they can. Envy, that’s what it is. I
suppose we’re all envious. But in my experience, when a fellow isn’t
straight he gets a double go of envy in him. I mean to say, for sheer
spiteful envy the crooks beat the band.”
Reggie nodded. “Do you know, Bell, I don’t ever remember your
being wrong, when you had given an opinion. By the way, what is
your opinion?”
Superintendent Bell smiled slowly. “We do have to be so careful, sir.
Would you believe it, I don’t so much as know who did the open-air
work in the Coal Ramp. There was half a dozen firms in the boom,
quite respectable firms. But who had the tip first, and who was
doing the big business, I know no more than the babe in arms.”
“Yes, there’s some brains about,” Lomas agreed.
But Reggie, who was watching the Superintendent, said, “What’s up
your sleeve, Bell?”
The Superintendent laughed. “You do have a way of putting things,
Mr. Fortune.” He lit a cigarette and looked at his chief. “I don’t know
what you thought of Mr. Sandford, Mr. Lomas?”
“More do I, Bell,” said Lomas. “I only know he’s not a man and a
brother.”
“What I should describe as a lonely cove, sir,” Bell suggested.
“Chiefly interested in himself, you might say.”
“He’s a climber,” said Lomas.
“Well, well! Who is Sandford—what is he, that all the world don’t
love him?” Reggie asked. “Who was his papa? What was his school?”
“Well, now, it’s rather odd you should ask that, sir,” said
Superintendent Bell.
“He didn’t have a school. He didn’t have a father,” said Lomas. “First
he knows he was living with his widowed mother, an only child, in a
little village in North Wales—Llan something. He went to the local
grammar-school. He was a kind of prize boy. He got a scholarship at
Pembroke, Oxford. Then Mrs. Sandford died, leaving him about a
pound a week. He got firsts at Oxford, and came into the Home Civil
pretty high. He’s done well in his Department, and they can’t stand
him.”
“Good brain, no geniality, if you take my meaning,” said the
Superintendent.
“I hate him already,” Reggie murmured.
“That’s quite easy,” said Lomas. “Well, he’s a clever second-rater,
that’s what it comes to.”
“Poor devil,” Reggie murmured.
“There’s swarms of them in the service. The only odd thing about
Sandford is that he don’t seem to have any origins. Like that fellow
in the Bible who had no ancestors—Melchizedek, was it? Well, Mrs.
Sandford had no beginning either. She wasn’t native to
Llanfairfechan—that’s the place. She came there when Sandford was
a small kid. Nobody there knows where from. He says he don’t know
where from. Nobody knows who his father was. He says he don’t
know. He says she left no papers of any sort. She had an annuity,
and the fifty pounds a year she left him was in Consols. He never
knew of any relations. Nobody in Llan-what’s-its-name can
remember anybody ever coming to see her. And she died ten years
ago.”
“You might say it looked as if she wanted to hide,” said
Superintendent Bell. “But, Lord, you can’t tell. Might be just a
sorrowful widow. It takes ’em that way sometimes.”
“Has anybody ever shown any interest in Melchizedek?” said Reggie.
“O Lord, no! Nobody ever heard of him out of his Department. And
there they all hate him. But he’s the sort of fellow you can’t keep
down.”
“Poor devil,” Reggie murmured again.
“You won’t be so damned sympathetic when you’ve met him,” Lomas
said. A slip of paper was presented to him. “Hallo! Here’s Kimball. I
thought he was leaving me alone too long. Well, we’ve got
something for him to-day.”
“He has a large fat head”: thus some perky journalist began a sketch
of the Rt. Hon. Horace Kimball. And he faithfully reported the first
elementary effect of seeing Mr. Kimball, who looked a heavy fellow,
with the bulk of his head and neck supported on a sturdy frame. But
on further acquaintance people discovered a vivacity of movement
and a keenness of expression which made them uncomfortable. Yet
he had, as I intend you to observe, a bluff, genial manner, and his
cruellest critics were always those who had not met him. For the
rest, he aimed at a beautiful neatness in his clothes, and succeeded.
He rushed in. “Well, Lomas, if we don’t make an end of this
business, it’ll make an end of us,” he announced, and flung himself
at a chair. “Anything new?”
“I have just been discussing it with Mr. Fortune.”
“That’s right. Want the best brains we can get.” He nodded his heavy
head at Reggie. “What do you make of it?”
“I don’t wonder you find it harassing,” Reggie said.
“Harassing! That’s putting it mildly. I’ve lost more sleep over it than I
want to think about.” He became aware that Reggie was studying
him. “Doctor, aren’t you?” he laughed ruefully. “I’m not a case, you
know.”
“I apologize for the professional instinct,” Reggie said. “But it does
make me say you ought to see your doctor, sir.”
“My doctor can’t tell me anything I don’t know. It’s this scandal
that’s the matter with me. You wouldn’t say I was sentimental,
would you? You wouldn’t take me for an innocent? Well, do you
know, I’ve been in business thirty years, and I’ve never had one of
my own people break faith with me. That’s what irritates me.
Somebody in my own office, somebody close to me, selling me. By
God, it’s maddening!”
“Whom do you suspect?” said Reggie.
Kimball flung himself about, and the chair creaked. “Damn it, man,
we’ve had all that out over and over again. I can’t suspect any one. I
won’t suspect any one. But the thing’s been done.”
“As I understand, the only people who knew the scheme were
yourself and Sandford, your secretary?”
“I’d as soon suspect myself as Sandford.”
“Yesterday three thousand pounds in notes was paid by somebody,
who didn’t give his name, into Sandford’s account,” said Lomas.
“Great God!” said Kimball, and rolled back in his chair, breathing
heavily. “That’s what I wouldn’t let myself believe.”
“Have you got any brandy, Lomas?” said Reggie, watching his pallor
professionally. Lomas started up. Reggie reached out and began to
feel Kimball’s pulse.
“Don’t do that,” said Kimball sharply, and dragged his hand away.
“Good Lord, man, I’m not ill! No, thanks, Lomas, nothing, nothing. I
never touch spirits. I’ll be all right in a moment. But it does rather
knock me over to find I’ve got to believe it was Sandford.” He
struggled out of his chair, walked to the window, and flung it up and
dabbed at his forehead. He stood there a moment in the raw air,
took a pinch of snuff, and turned on them vigorously. “There’s no
doubt about this evidence, eh? We can’t get away from it?”
“I’m afraid we must ask Sandford for an explanation,” said Lomas.
“Most unpleasant thing I ever did in my life,” Kimball said. “Well,
there’s no help for it, I suppose. Still, he may have a perfectly good
explanation. Damn it, I won’t make up my mind till I must. I’ve
always found him quite straight—and very efficient too. Cleverest
fellow I ever had about me. Send for him then; say I’ll be glad to
see him here. Come now, Lomas, what do you think yourself? He
may be able to account for it quite naturally, eh?”
“He may. But I can’t see how,” Lomas said gloomily. “Can you?”
“I suppose you think I’m a fool, but I like to believe in my fellows,”
said Kimball, and they passed an awkward five minutes till Sandford
came.
He looked a good young man. He was rather small, he was very
lean, he wore eyeglasses. Everything about him was correct and
restrained. But there was an oddity of structure about his face: it
seemed to come to a point at the end of his nose, and yet his lower
jaw looked heavy.
He made graded salutations to Kimball his chief and to Lomas. He
looked at Reggie and Superintendent Bell as though he expected
them to retreat from his presence. And he turned upon Kimball a
glance that bade him lose no time.
Kimball seemed to find some difficulty in beginning. He cleared his
throat, blew his nose, and took another pinch of snuff. “I don’t know
if you guess why I sent for you,” he broke out.
“I infer that it is on this matter of the gamble in coal shares,” said
Sandford precisely.
“Yes. Do you know of any new fact?”
“Nothing has come before me.”
“Well, there’s something I want you to explain. I dare say you have
a satisfactory explanation. But I’m bound to ask for it.”
“I have nothing to explain that I know of.”
“It’s been brought to my knowledge that yesterday three thousand
pounds in notes was paid into your account. Where did it come
from?”
Sandford took off his eyeglasses and cleaned them, and put them on
again. “I have no information,” he said in the most correct official
manner.
“Good God, man, you must see what it means!” Kimball cried.
“I beg your pardon, sir. I have no notion of what it means. I find it
difficult to believe that you have been correctly informed.”
“You don’t suppose I should take up a charge like this unless I was
compelled to.”
“There’s no doubt of the fact, Mr. Sandford,” said Lomas gloomily.
“Indeed! Then I have only to say that no one has any authority to
make payments into my account. As you have gone into the affair so
carefully, I suppose you have found out who did.”
“He didn’t give his name, you see. Can you tell us who he was?”
Lomas said.
“I repeat, sir, I know nothing about the transaction.”
“And that’s all you say?”
“I need hardly add that I shall not accept the money.”
“You know the matter can’t end there!” Kimball cried. “Come, man,
you’re not doing yourself justice. Nothing could be worse for you
than this tone, can’t you see that?”
“I beg your pardon, sir. I do not see what you wish me to say. You
spoke of making a charge. Will you be so good as to state it?”
“If you must have it! This boom was begun on information which
only you had besides myself. And immediately after the boom this
large sum is paid secretly into your account. You must see what
everybody will say—what I should say myself if I didn’t know you—
that you sold the plan, and this money is your price. Come, you
must have some explanation for us—some defence, at least.”
“I say again, sir, I know nothing of the matter. I should hope that
what scandal may say will have no influence upon any one who
knows my character and my career.”
“Good God, man, we’re dealing with facts! Where did that three
thousand pounds come from?”
“I have no information. I have no idea.”
For the first time Reggie spoke. “I wonder if you have a theory?”
“I don’t consider it is my duty to imagine theories.”
“Do you know any one who wants to ruin you? Or why any one
should?”
“I beg your pardon. I must decline to be led into wild speculations of
that kind.”
Kimball started up. “You make it impossible to do anything for you. I
have given you every chance, remember that—every chance. It’s
beyond me now. I can only advise you to consider your position. I
don’t know whether your resignation will save you from worse
consequences. I’ll do what I can. But you make it very hard. Good
morning. You had better not go back to the office.”
“I deny every imputation,” said Sandford. “Good morning, sir.”
Half apologetically Kimball turned to the others. “There’s nothing for
it, I suppose. We’ll have to go through with it now. You’ll let me
have an official report. The fellow’s hopeless. Poor devil!”
“I can’t say he touches my heart,” said Lomas.
Kimball laughed without mirth. “He can’t help himself,” he said, and
went out.
“I shouldn’t have thought Kimball was so human,” said Lomas.
“Well, sir, he always has stuck to his men, I must say,” said
Superintendent Bell.
“I wonder he could stick to Sandford for a day.”
“That Mr. Sandford, he is what you might call a superior person,” Bell
chuckled. “Funny how they brazen it out, that kind.”
“Yes, I don’t doubt he thinks he was most impressive. Well, Fortune,
there’s not much here for you, I’m afraid.”
Reggie had gone to the window and was fidgeting there. “I say, the
wind’s changed,” said he. “That’s something, anyway.”

Phase III.—The Man under the Snow

The porter of Montmorency House, awaking next morning,
discovered that even in the well of his flats, where the air is ever the
most stagnant in London, the snow was melting fast. After breakfast
he saw some clothes emerging from the slush. This annoyed him,
for he cherished that little court. The tenants, he remarked to his
wife, were always doing something messy, but dropping their
trousers down the well was the limit. He splashed out into the slush
and found a corpse.
After lunch Reggie Fortune, drowsing over the last published play of
Herr Wedekind, was roused by the telephone, which, speaking with
the voice of Superintendent Bell, urged him to come at once to the
mortuary.
“Who’s dead?” he asked. “Sandford hanged himself in red tape?
Kimball had a stroke?”
“It’s what you might call anonymous,” said the voice of the
Superintendent. “Just the sort of case you like.”
“I never like a case,” said Reggie, with indignation, and rang off.
At the door of the mortuary Superintendent Bell appeared as his car
stopped.
“You’re damned mysterious,” Reggie complained.
“Not me, sir. If you can tell me who the fellow is, I’ll be obliged. But
what I want to know first is, what was the cause of death. You’ll
excuse me, I won’t tell you how he was found till you’ve formed your
opinion.”
“What the devil do you mean by that?”
“I don’t want you to be prejudiced in any way, sir, if you take my
meaning.”
“Damn your impudence. When did you ever see me prejudiced?”
“Dear me, Mr. Fortune, I never heard you swear so much,” said Bell
sadly. “Don’t be hasty, sir. I have my reasons. I have, really.”
He led the way into the room where the dead man lay. He pulled
back the sheet which covered the body. “Well, well!” said Reggie
Fortune. For the dead man’s face was not there.
“You’ll excuse me. I shouldn’t be any good to you,” said the
Superintendent thickly, and made for the door.
Reggie did not look round. “Send Sam in with my things,” he said.
It was a long time afterwards when, rather pale for him, his round
and comfortable face veiled in an uncommon gravity, he came out.
Superintendent Bell threw away his cigarette. “Ghastly, isn’t it?” he
said with sympathy.
“Mad,” said Reggie. “Come on.” A shower of warm rain was being
driven before the west wind, but he opened everything in his car
that would open, and told the chauffeur to drive round Regent’s
Park. “Come on. Bell. The rain won’t hurt you.”
“I don’t wonder you want a blow. Poor chap! As ugly a mess as ever
I saw.”
“I suppose I’m afraid,” said Reggie slowly. “It’s unusual and
annoying. I suppose the only thing that does make you afraid is
what’s mad. Not the altogether crazy—that’s only a nuisance-but
what’s damned clever and yet mad. An able fellow with a mania on
one point. I suppose that’s what the devil is, Bell.”
“Good Lord, sir,” said Superintendent Bell.
“What I want is muffins,” said Reggie—“several muffins and a little
tea and my domestic hearth. Then I’ll feel safe.”
He spread himself out, sitting on the small of his back before his
study fire, and in that position contrived to eat and drink with
freedom.
“In another world, Bell,” he said dreamily—“in another and a gayer
world it seems to me you wanted to know the cause of death. And
you didn’t want me to be prejudiced. Kindly fellow. But there’s no
prejudice about. It’s quite a plain case.”
“Is it indeed, sir? You surprise me.”
“The dead man was killed by a blow on the left temple from some
heavy, blunt weapon—a life-preserver, perhaps; a stick, a poker. At
the same time, or immediately after death, his face was battered in
by the same or a similar weapon. Death probably occurred some
days ago. After death, but not long after death, the body received
other injuries, a broken rib and left shoulder-blade, probably by a fall
from some height. That’s the medical evidence. There are other
curious circumstances.”
“Just a few!” said Bell, with a grim chuckle. “You’re very definite, sir,
if I might say so. I suppose he couldn’t have been killed and had his
face smashed like—like he did—by the fall?”
“You can cut that right out. He was killed by a blow and blows
smashed his face in. Where did you find him?”
“He was found when the snow melted this morning in the well at
Montmorency House.”
“Under the snow? That puts the murder on the night of the fifteenth.
Yes, that fits; that accounts for his sodden clothes.”
“There’s a good deal it don’t account for,” said Bell gloomily.
“I saw him just as he was found?” Bell nodded. “Somebody took a
lot of pains with him. He was fully dressed—collar and tie, boots. But
a lot of his internal buttons were undone. And there’s not a name,
not even a maker’s name, on any of his clothes. His linen’s new and
don’t show a laundry mark. Yes, somebody took a lot of pains we
shouldn’t know him.”
“I don’t know what you’re getting at, sir.”
“Don’t you? Is it likely a man wearing decent clothes would not have
his linen marked and his tailor’s name somewhere? Is it likely a man
who had his tie and collar on wouldn’t do up his undershirt? No. The
beggar’s clothes were changed after he was killed. That must have
been a grisly business too. He’s not a tender-hearted fellow who did
this job. Valet the body you’ve killed and then bash its face in! Well,
well! Have some more tea?”
“Not me,” said Bell, with a gulp. “You talked about a madman, sir,
didn’t you?”
“Oh, no, no, no. Not the kind of mad that runs amuck. Not homicidal
mania. This isn’t just smashing up a chap’s body for the sake of
smashing. There’s lots of purpose here. This is damned cold,
calculating crime. That kind of mad. Some fellow’s got an object that
makes it worth while to him to do any beastliness. That’s the worst
kind of mad, Bell. Not homicidal mania—that only makes a man a
beast. What’s here is the sort of thing that makes a man a devil.”
“You’re going a bit beyond me, sir. It’s a bloody murder, and that’s all
I want.”
“Yes, that’s our job,” said Reggie thoughtfully. Together they went off
to Montmorency House.
“How would you describe deceased, sir?” said Bell.