Removal of Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether (MTBE) from Aqueous Solution Using Sunlight and Nano TiO₂

Abstract

Methyl tertiary-butyl ether is a synthetic compound that was developed as a technological solution to a technology-derived problem created by air pollution from vehicle emissions. Methyl tertiary-butyl ether was added to gasoline with the intent to reduce air emissions, making the fuel burn cleaner. Unfortunately, use of this air-saving gasoline additive has created one of the most threatening and widespread environmental problems for the nation's drinking water supply. In this work, degradation of methyl tertiary-butyl ether in aqueous solution using the solar ultraviolet and TiO₂ nano particles was investigated. Factors that affect photocatalytic removal of methyl tertiary-butyl ether, such as pH, TiO₂, and methyl tertiary-butyl ether concentrations, were studied and optimum conditions were determined using the Taguchi method for designing the experiments. Results showed that the best conditions for the removing of methyl tertiary-butyl ether in the ultraviolet/TiO₂ process are 2 g/l nano TiO₂ and 50 ppm methyl tertiary-butyl ether, which leads to more than 88% removal of methyl tertiary-butyl ether in 120 min.

Keywords::

• advanced oxidation processes
• catalyst
• methyl tertiary-butyl ether
• photocatalytic degradation
• ultraviolet irradiation