U.S.-Based Chemical Solutions Provider Plays Vital Role in Eliminating the Nation's Chemical Weapons Arsenal
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This article is sponsored by Noah Chemicals, a global producer of custom chemical solutions.
From World War I to the 1960s, the United States built a substantial stockpile of chemical weapons to deter their use by other countries. Because the arsenal was never used, it became obsolete and deteriorated. By 1968, the United States had amassed an enormous 40,000-ton stockpile of chemical weapons which posed a significant risk at army sites across the nation. In 1993, the United Nations adopted the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), signed by 193 countries, including the United States. The disarmament agreement took effect in 1997, prompting the U.S. government to undertake the monumental challenge of destroying these hazardous chemical weapons.
The elimination of these lethal chemical weapons required the highest levels of care to ensure they were destroyed in a way that posed no risk to the surrounding populations and environments. As experts in the chemical sector, Noah Chemicals began formulating trial burns and providing expert guidance to the onsite chemists at Anniston Depot on the safest and most efficient surrogate and testing materials for the task. Intending to prove the destruction and removal efficiency (DRE) of the facility, the chemical services team from Noah Chemicals was ultimately able to achieve a certification of chemical weapons incineration.
"The United States' commitment to eliminating its chemical weapons stockpile is a significant step towards global disarmament. By partnering with us at Noah Chemicals, the U.S. military and the Department of Defense have ensured that this important mission is carried out safely and efficiently,” said Kelly Sellers, chief chemist at Noah Chemicals. “The successful destruction of these weapons not only makes the world a safer place today, but it also helps to protect future generations from the threat of chemical warfare."
Through collaboration and meticulous planning and testing, Noah Chemicals was able to support the demonstration of efficiency for the destruction facilities at Anniston Depot, as well as Pine Bluff, Tooele, and Umatilla. The company continued to provide ongoing support to the Blue Grass facility to aid in its mission to eliminate chemical weapons — which was recently successfully completed, marking the culmination of the project to destroy the last of the nation’s declared chemical weapons.
Get to Know Noah Chemicals
- Noah Chemicals is proud to be a certified women-owned (WBENC) company.
- Quality is paramount at Noah Chemicals, which is why the company has instituted the Noah Standard to uphold their high standards of quality, compliance, and business ethics.
- To ensure the highest levels of quality and purity, Noah Chemicals performs both in-house and third-party testing on its materials.
Thomas Insights (TI): Can you explain to our readers the importance of the destruction of these chemicals and how Noah Chemicals’ involvement impacted the process?
Kelly Sellers (KS): Most weapons of war are specifically targeted so that the combatant troops on the opposing force will be the casualties of these weapons. But the chemical weapons that have been stored at military sites across the country are particularly daunting because they’re indiscriminate.
Many of them have a lethal dose of just milligrams. Less than a drop could kill hundreds of people once the chemical is aerosolized and formed into a gas. So, it was in the best interest of our country to eliminate these weapons because many of the stockpiles are within communities or close to residential areas. This means that the people living in the areas surrounding these storage sites have had to live with the possibility of an incredible accident happening in their backyard.
At Noah Chemicals, our chemical services team has a deep well of chemical knowledge and expertise which allowed us to guide the chemists at the sites where the chemicals were being destroyed. Using our knowledge and guidance, we were able to determine the most efficient methods to test the DRE of their incinerator systems, allowing for the safe and successful elimination of the chemical weapons.
TI: Can you describe some of the methods you used to test the effectiveness of the destruction methods?
KS: We were tasked with proving the DRE of three different destruction methods that were designed to incinerate different types of chemical weapons. First, we tested the liquid incinerator (LIC), which was designed to destroy lethal liquid agents. We did this by formulating a mixture of 21 different metals in varying compounds with a glycol base that could stand in as a surrogate to the lethal chemical agents during testing. We created a stable mixture that was able to successfully simulate the destruction of the chemical weapons and prove that the incinerator had a DRE greater than 99.999% efficiency.
Next, we had to source containers that were compatible with the lethal agent simulant, allowing the solvents to be transported to the deactivation furnace system (DFS). We needed to find the ideal packaging to simulate the amounts of chemical weapons that would be fed into the furnace at one time. We sourced 25,000 special plastic-composite jugs that were compatible with the solvents and able to withstand the extreme temperatures present in the furnace shoot.
Finally, we had to test the metal parts furnace (MPF). The MPF is the largest among all the furnaces, capable of accommodating equipment of considerable size, almost as big as pallets. Within this furnace, we had to fill enormous jugs with metals and solvents. The purpose was to simulate any residue that might have been left in the containers after they had gone through the metal parts furnace. This stage marked the end of the line, and we had to ensure that all parts that went through the MPF achieved thorough decontamination to ensure the complete removal of any remaining contaminants.
TI: Is there anything else that you think our readers should know about Noah Chemicals?
KS: We pride ourselves on being able to provide truly custom solutions for each of our customers’ applications. I think this is evidenced by the work we have done with the United States government to eliminate the nation’s stockpile of chemical weapons. But this type of work is just one example of what we do on a regular basis.
We strive to provide each of our customers with the types of packaging and the quantities they need rather than selling a standard 50-pound bag of chemicals. Many of our customers require highly specific quantities of their chemical solutions, and we’re able to package not only the quantity they need, but we also ensure that it comes in the right packaging to protect the integrity of the product and ensure it is compatible with the environment in which it will be used. At Noah Chemicals, each client relationship is guided by the Noah Standard, which encompasses our unwavering dedication to quality, innovation, and transparency.
Learn more about Noah Chemicals’ custom chemical solutions.
