Adsorption and Abiotic Transformation of Methyl tert-Butyl Ether through Acidic Catalysts
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 8
Abstract
The fuel additive methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is sometimes considered to be a recalcitrant compound in groundwater. Due to MTBE’s relatively poor adsorption and low volatility, interest is growing in new remediation methods which provide an alternative to using activated carbon or stripping techniques. This study addresses the abiotic degradation (hydrolysis) of MTBE to the intermediate tert-butanol (TBA). Two selected materials with acidic properties were shown to hydrolyze MTBE in batch tests at moderate pH values. The sorption of MTBE and TBA was estimated with Freundlich isotherms. Isotherms and TBA formation were used to calculate MTBE degradation. In another experiment, TBA was degraded aerobically by microorganisms. Since TBA seems to be more easily available as a carbon source to microorganisms than MTBE, the catalytic transformation of MTBE to TBA and methanol could enhance the natural attenuation of MTBE.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank the German Ministry of Education and Research for kindly funding this work (Project METLEN, Grant No. 02WN0349). Additional financial support was kindly provided by the UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle under Project SAFIRA (Search for Natural Attenuation Forces in Regionally Contaminated Aquifers).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 8 • August 2007
Pages: 827 - 833
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 29, 2005
Accepted: Feb 27, 2007
Published online: Aug 1, 2007
Published in print: Aug 2007
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