DECOMPOSITION OF LARGE AND SMALL CALIBRE AMMUNITION
The ZEVETA AMMUNITION joint-stock company has had almost 70-years of tradition in manufacturing military ammunition. It was founded in 1938 as ammunition manufacturer and its very first production programme concentrated on jobs for the military.
The company started with decomposition of large calibre ammunition in 1997 upon winning the tender at the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic to handle artillery ammunition calibre 100mm. Once the decomposition process of 100JOF and 100 JPZS ammunition had been managed successfully, the MoD of Czech Republic awarded the company progressively with jobs related to both to split ammunition calibre 122, 130, 152 as well as medium and small calibre ammunition and products, which ZEVETA used to manufacture, i.e. hand grenades model F-1 and RG-4, RPG, signal ammunition, VM and COP 65 ammunition, smoke puff charges, smoke and illuminating equipment, various types of igniters and fuses and other products.
The decomposition of ammunition and subsequent ecological disposal of obtained material was associated primarily with monitoring of decomposition process safety. That was improved by designing and manufacturing of the company s own technological facilities and whole range of other technological aids emphasizing the safety during decomposition of ammunition and pyrotechnical items.
Since the year 2004, ZEVETA AMMUNITION joint-stock company has been participating in a vast decomposition programme aimed at safe and ecological disposal of surplus and unmarketable military stock as ground and aircraft ammunition, mines, engineer and pyrotechnical material and other commodities.
Realisation of this impressive project, which has been the first one in the history of Czech Army as to scale, enables to save on costs incurred by storage and guarding of ammunition at military facilities, reduction of its possible misuse, creation of numerous job opportunities at decomposition and disposal plants and the last but not the least to mention it the utilisation of obtained materials in industry and construction.
With its decomposition process, the ZEVETA AMMUNITION joint stock company pays primary attention to the following:
- safety at work, determination of a safe technological procedure and prevention of any misuse of the material obtained,
- ecology of the process, which can not interfere with the living environment.
The philosophy followed by ZEVETA is clear: support the decomposition process for ammunition and other military stock with such technological facilities, which meet strict criteria for safety at work and requirements for environmental protection and to conduct the ecological disposal of material obtained at the maximum proximity to independence. Only such approach can help ZEVETA remain competitive among other decomposition and disposal plants.
TECHNOLOGICAL FACILITY
DETONATION CHAMBER K-16
DETONATION CHAMBER K-2
The detonation chamber is a technological facility used to destroy ammunition and testing of explosives by detonations.
The structure of detonation chamber provides for complete absorption of detonation effects equal to 16 kg of TNT at K16 (2 kg of TNT at K2 respectively) per 1 blast and it is fitted with a filtration unit.
This unit ensures cleaning of gaseous products of explosion of ammunition and explosives to comply with values of outlet emissions enabling classification into the category of other small pollution sources as defined in the Act. No. 86/2002 Coll. (the Climate Protection Act) and the relevant Decree No. 353/2002 Coll.
The guaranteed content of solid pollutants in outlet emissions is 1 mg.m-3 of air.
Control of mechanisms inside the detonation chamber has been fully automated, the operation cycle is started by operators using the technology control board. The correctness and completeness of particular operations is double checked by electronics from the control board as well as by operators of the technology using closed circuit camera system.
The logic circuit in the control board provides multiple fusing to prevent launch of explosives prior to final completion of the operation cycle, as well as deactivation of all the power circuits and machinery inside the detonation chamber, until the operators have left the room with detonation chamber.
The order to launch explosives is given by operators following acoustic signal and closing of the door leading to hall with the detonation chamber, check-up of the condition inside the chamber and hall using closed circuit camera system and connection of the previously and physically fully disconnected ignition leads to the control board.
This technology of ammunition disposal by means of detonation with explosives up to the equivalent to 16 kg of trinitrotoluene is unique all over the Central Europe.
TECHNOLOGICAL FACILITY FOR ECOLOGICAL DISPOSAL OF PYROTECHNICAL COMPOSITIONS
The ecological disposal of pyrotechnical compositions is conducted
in the technological facility for ecological disposal of pyrotechnical
elements.
This line comprises the very incineration chamber located
inside a separate room and pneumatic systems and de-polluting
units to filter gaseous products from pyrotechnical elements located
in another. This system is linked to the incineration chamber using
a pipe. The de-polluting facility is formed by a system of separators,
filters and a purifier, which holds all the pollutants and complies with
conditions imposed on ecology of decomposition process.
