Degradation of MTBE Intermediates using Fenton’s Reagent
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 128, Issue 9
Abstract
In a previous study, the chemical oxidation of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) at low concentrations in water using Fenton’s reagent (FR) was investigated. At certain reaction conditions the process achieved 99.99% degradation of MTBE but it did not result in complete MTBE mineralization. In the present study, the major intermediate by-products generated during the reaction, such as tert-butyl formate (TBF), tert-butyl alcohol (TBA), methyl acetate, and acetone were separately used as parent contaminants and treated under the same reaction conditions initially used for MTBE (i.e., pH of the water, molar ratio of pollutant to FR) in order to compare their degradability by hydroxyl radicals generated from Fenton’s reaction. The results were compatible with the second order reaction rate constants for the reaction of hydroxyl radicals with each contaminant commonly available in the literature. The comparison of the degradation kinetics for each intermediate by-product provided information that aims at unveiling the limiting step(s) of the entire MTBE degradation pathway. In this context, it was found that (1) TBA was generated by reactions subsequent to those that produced TBF, (2) acetone was originated by at least three independent pathways involving direct hydroxyl radical attack on MTBE, TBF, and TBA, and (3) methyl acetate was formed exclusively from MTBE.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 128 • Issue 9 • September 2002
Pages: 799 - 805
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 13, 2002
Accepted: Mar 19, 2002
Published online: Aug 15, 2002
Published in print: Sep 2002
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