O3/H2O2 treatment of methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in contaminated waters

The kinetics and efficiency of oxidation of methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in contaminated water employing O3/H2O2 advanced oxidation process is presented in this paper. Kinetic simulation is based on the model mechanism published in literature (Staehelin and Hoigne, Environ. Sci. Technol. 16 (1982) 676; Glaze and Kang, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 26 (1989) 1573) indicates that the oxidation of MTBE is primarily induced by the hydroxyl radical. The degradation of MTBE can be described by a pseudo-first-order kinetics in two phases. The first-phase covers MTBE concentrations greater than 10 mg L−1 and the second-phase covers MTBE concentrations below 10 mg L−1. The rate of oxidation of MTBE (at least in the first-phase) is limited by ozone mass transfer and increases with increasing ozone gas flow rate. The pseudo-first-order reaction rate constant varies from 2.0×10−3 to 5.4×10−3 s−1 over the range of ozone gas flow rate employed in this investigation. An efficiency index is defined and its value for the oxidation of MTBE in different water is provided. The data provided show that remediation of MTBE-contaminated groundwater by O3/H2O2 process is more efficient and less costly than by the UV/H2O2 process.