APPLICATION OF PHOTOCATALYTIC PROCESS FOR REMOVAL OF METHYL TERT-BUTYL ETHER FROM HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WATER

The oxygenate methyl tert-butyl ether is added to gasoline to increase the octane level and to reducecarbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions by vehicles. the high mobility, water solubility, andresistance to natural attenuation associated with methyl tert-butyl ether may result in contamination ofground and surface waters. in this research the degradation of aqueous methyl tert-butyl ether at relativelyhigh concentrations was investigated by uv-vis/tio2/h2o2 photocatalytic process. the effect ofimportant operational parameters such as ph, amount of h2o2, catalyst loading, and irradiation time werealso studied. concentrations of methyl tert-butyl ether and intermediates such as tert-butyl formate andtert-butyl alcohol were measured over a 180 min period using a gas chromatograph equipped with flameionization detector and combined with headspace sampler. results showed that the time required forcomplete degradation increased from 30 to 180min, when the initial concentration was increased from 10to 500mg/l. the first order rate constant for degradation of methyl tert-butyl ether from the hydroxylradical was estimated to be 0.177 to 0.022 1/min as the concentration increased from 10 to 500mg/l.study on the overall mineralization monitored by total organic carbon (toc) analysis showed that in theinitial concentration of 100mg/l methyl tert-butyl ether, complete mineralization was obtained after110min under uv-vis/tio2/h2o2 photocatalytic process.