You are here:
PHOTOCATALYTIC OXIDATION OF METHYL-TERT-BUTYL ETHER FOR DRINKING WATER TREATMENT
Citation:
SahleDemessie*, E, C. B. Almquist, AND P. Biswas. PHOTOCATALYTIC OXIDATION OF METHYL-TERT-BUTYL ETHER FOR DRINKING WATER TREATMENT. Presented at Sixth International Conference on Advance Oxidation Technologies & TiO2 Photocatalytic Purification and Treatment of Water, Ontario, Canada, 6/26-29/2001.
Description:
The photo-oxidation of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in water was investigated to determine the feasibility of using photocatalysis for the treatment of MTBE-contaminated drinking water. The feasibility assessment was conducted using slurries of titanium dioxide in both a photo-catalytic falling film reactor and a solar reactor. MTBE-contaminated synthetic water and field samples from two different sites were used for these studies. NTBE-contaminated synthetic water and field samples from two different sites were used for these studies. Complete degradation of the MTBEwas observed at a titanium dioxide concentration of 0.1 g/L within 90 minutes. The major degradation products from MTBE were methyl-tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) and tert-buytl formate (TBF) and small amounts of acetone. These degradation products appeared in the reservoir in similar concentrations, and their combined concentrations initially totaled the amount of MTBE degraded, indicating that TBF and TBA are formed within the first few reaction steps in the oxidation of MTBE. Studies conducted using contaminated groundwater samples with TiO2 and sunlight showed that aromatic organic species BTEXs, (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) were degraded up to a factor of 10 times faster than MTBE. However, dissolved metals (Fe2+) and chlorine ions in contaminated waters decreased the photo-activity of TiO2 for the degradation of MTBE. Reducing the pH of the groundwater samples increased the MTBE degradation rate by three-folds. Photocatalysis accelerates the solar degradation of MTBE and reduces its half-life by more than three orders of magnitude. The study indicated that solar degradation is a low cost and effective alternative to attenuate MTBE in drinking water supplies.