Advanced oxidation of methyl-tertiary butyl ether: pilot study findings and full-scale implications

The high solubility and low volatility of methyl-tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) makes it difficult to treat when present at low levels (as in most groundwater supplies) using established technologies such as air stripping and activated carbon. Unlike the established transfer technologies (e.g., air str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aqua (London) 2008-09, Vol.57 (6), p.403-418
Main Authors: Kommineni, Sunil, Chowdhury, Zaid, Kavanaugh, Michael, Mishra, Dhananjay, Croue, Jean-Philippe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activated carbon
Activated carbon adsorption
Alcohols
Butanol
By-products
Byproducts
Emissions control
Energy consumption
Ethers
Evaluation
Groundwater
MTBE
Operating costs
Oxidation
Oxidation tests
Peroxide
Pilots
Pressure
Removal
Scale (corrosion)
Stripping
Surface water
Tertiary
Ultraviolet radiation
Volatility
Water quality
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Summary:The high solubility and low volatility of methyl-tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) makes it difficult to treat when present at low levels (as in most groundwater supplies) using established technologies such as air stripping and activated carbon. Unlike the established transfer technologies (e.g., air stripping, activated carbon adsorption), advanced oxidation by ultraviolet (UV) light could potentially destroys MTBE and its by-products. As part of this study, extensive pilot and bench scale evaluation was performed to understand the effectiveness of MTBE and its by-products [e.g., tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) and tertiary butyl formate (TBF)] removal using UV/peroxide in ground and surface waters. The water quality matrix evaluated the impact of MTBE oxidation in the presence of other UV light absorbing compounds (e.g., nitrate) and radical scavengers (e.g., organics). These UV oxidation tests were conducted using both the medium-pressure (MP-UV) and low-pressure, high-output (LP-UV) lamps. Water quality impacts were also summarized using the energy requirement calculations. Based on the information gleaned from pilot testing, authors developed conceptual-level design and operational criteria. Conceptual-level capital and operational costs for full-scale systems were developed and presented.
ISSN:0003-7214
1606-9935
1605-3974
1365-2087
DOI:10.2166/aqua.2008.094