Sorption of Tertiary Butyl Mercaptan to Indoor Materials in Contact with Air or Water
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 3
Abstract
This study reports sorption of the malodorant 2-methyl-2-propanethiol, commonly known as tertiary butyl mercaptan (TBM), to selected indoor materials. The phase distribution of TBM in gas-solid and aqueous-solid systems was evaluated using batch reactors. Sorbents used in the study included two carpets, two wallpapers, a soil, and granular activated carbon (GAC). Sorption was studied for gaseous and aqueous TBM concentrations spanning three orders of magnitude and contact times ranging from 1 to 28 days. The phase distribution data were plotted and fitted using linear and Freundlich relationships. Results indicated that all solids sorbed environmentally significant quantities of TBM, with the likelihood of producing concentrations above the odor threshold during subsequent remediation using mechanical ventilation. TBM retention by sorbents was greater from air than from water. The malodorant partitioned readily into wallpapers and slowly into the carpet materials. Sorption was nonlinear in the case of GAC and the nonlinearity appeared to increase with sorption contact time. GAC sorbed TBM strongly from both air and water.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported in part by the Department of the Navy, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Laboratory. The content of this paper does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. Surface area analysis was performed in the laboratory of Keith Hohn in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Kansas State University.
References
Adamson, A. W. (1990). Physical chemistry of surfaces, Wiley, New York.
Chang, J. C. S., Sparks, L. E., and Guo, Z. (1998). “Evaluation of sink effects on VOCs from a latex paint.” J. Air Waste Manage. Assoc., 48, 953–958.
Colombo, A., Bortoli, M. D., Knoppel, H., Pecchio, E., and Vissers, H. (1993). “Adsorption of selected volatile organic compounds on a carpet, a wall coating, and a gypsum board in a test chamber.” Indoor Air, 3, 276–282.
Eberhardt, A., Lopez, E., Bucala, V., and Damiani, D. E. (2003). “Tertiary butyl mercaptan adsorption in soils. Determination of kinetic and transport parameters from experimental data.” Int. J. Chem. React. Eng., 1, A42.
Economist. (2004). “The future of crowd control.” The Economist, 11.
Elkilani, A., Bouhamra, W., and Crittenden, B. D. (2001). “An indoor air quality model that includes the sorption of VOCs on fabrics.” Trans. IChemE, Part C, 79(B4), 233–243.
Jorgensen, R. B., Bjorseth, O., and Malvik, B. (1999). “Chamber testing of adsorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on material surfaces.” Indoor Air, 9, 2–9.
Kalainesan, S. (2004). “Biodegradation of tertiary butyl mercaptan in soil under aerobic conditions.” MS thesis, Kansas State Univ.
Karanfil, T., and Kilduff, J. E. (1999). “Role of granular activated carbon surface chemistry on the adsorption of organic compounds. I: Priority pollutants.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 33, 3217–3224.
Lesan, H. M., and Bhandari, A. (2003). “Atrazine sorption on surface soils: Time-dependent phase distribution and apparent desorption hysteresis.” Water Res., 37, 1644–1654.
LeVon, M. D., Carta, G., and Yon, C. M. (1997). “Adsorption and ion exchange,” Perry’s chemical engineer’s handbook, R. H. Perry and D. W. Green, eds., McGraw-Hill, New York, 16–25.
Meininghaus, R., Gunnarsen, L., and Knudsen, H. N. (2000). “Diffusion and sorption of volatile organic compounds in building materials—Impact on indoor air quality.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 34, 3101–3108.
Mensitieri, G., Del Nobile, M. A., Apicella, A., and Nicolais, L. (1989). “Time and temperature dependent sorption in poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK).” Polym. Eng. Sci., 29, 1786–1795.
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). (2004). MSDS No. 35759, Natural Gas Odorizing Inc., Baytown, Tex., ⟨http://msds. oxy. com/DWFiles/M35759NAEN%2EPDF⟩ (April 15, 2007).
Palomo, M., and Bhandari, A. (2005). “Time-dependent sorption-desorption behavior of 2,4-dichlorophenol and its polymerization products in surface soils.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 39, 2143–2151.
Piade, J. J., D’Andres, S., and Sanders, E. B. (1999). “Sorption of nicotine and ethylpyridine vapors on different materials in a test chamber.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 33, 2046–2052.
Singer, B. C., et al. (2007). “Sorption of organic gases in residential rooms.” Atmos. Environ., 41, 3251–3265.
Singer, B. C., Hodgson, A. T., Destaillats, H., Hotchi, T., Rezvan, K. L., and Sextro, R. G. (2005). “Indoor sorption of surrogates for sarin and related nerve agents.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 39, 3203–3214.
Sun, J., Hippo, E. J., Marsh, H., O’Brien, W. S., and Crelling, J. C. (1997). “Activated carbon produced from an Illinois Basin coal.” Carbon, 35, 341–352.
Tichenor, B. A., Guo, Z., Dunn, J. E., Sparks, L. E., and Marson, M. A. (1991). “The interaction of vapor phase organic compounds with indoor sinks.” Indoor Air, 1, 23–35.
Weber, W. J., and Huang, W. (1996). “A distributed reactivity model for sorption by soils and sediments. 4. Intraparticle heterogeneity and phase-distribution relationships under nonequilibrium conditions.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 30, 881–888.
Weber, W. J., LeBoeuf, E. J., Young, T. M., and Huang, W. (2001). “Contaminant interactions with geosorbent organic matter: Insights drawn from polymer sciences.” Water Res., 35, 853–868.
Won, D., Corsi, R. L., and Rynes, M. (2000). “New indoor carpet as an adsorptive reservoir for volatile organic compounds.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 34, 4193–4198.
Won, D., Corsi, R. L., and Rynes, M. (2001). “Sorptive interactions between VOCs and indoor materials.” Indoor Air, 11, 246–256.
Xing, B., and Pignatello, J. J. (1996). “Time-dependent isotherm shape of organic compounds in soil organic matter: Implications for sorption mechanism.” Envir. Toxicol. Chem., 15, 1282–1288.
Zhao, D., Little, J. C., and Cox, S. S. (2004). “Characterizing polyurethane foam as a sink for or source of volatile organic compounds in indoor air.” J. Environ. Eng., 130 (9), 983–989.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 26, 2006
Accepted: Sep 18, 2007
Published online: Mar 1, 2008
Published in print: Mar 2008
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.