UV/H2O2 treatment of methyl tert-butyl ether in contaminated waters

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a pollutant often found in groundwaters contaminated by gasoline spills or from leaking underground storage tanks. The common techniques often used for the remediation of contaminated water are not very effective for MTBE. This study examines the UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation technology to determine its effectiveness in the treatment of MTBE. The degradation of MTBE was found to follow pseudo-first-order kinetics, and hence the figure-of-merit electrical energy per order (EEO) is appropriate for estimating the electrical energy efficiency. The E-EO values were found to depend on the concentrations of MTBE, H2O2, and other components, such as benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTX). This study shows that MTBE can be treated easily and effectively with the UV/H2O2 process with E-EO values between 0.2 and 7.5 kWh/m(3)/order, depending on the initial concentrations of MTBE and H2O2. The treatment efficiency of 10 mg L-1 MTBE is not adversely affected by the presence of low concentrations of BTX (<2 mg L-1). However, the degradation efficiency is significantly decreased at BTX levels greater than 2 mg L-1. A kinetic model, based on the initial rates of degradation, provides good predictions of the EEO values for a variety of conditions.