%is study is focused on three main objectives: I ) to determine the feasibility of using a falling-filnz slurry photocatalytic reactor for the degradation of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MlBE)
The use of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) as a gasoline additive has resulted in increasing pollution of groundwater. Most of the conventional treatment technologies are inefficient or costly when the initial concentration of MTBE is low (Ͻ 200 g/L). To find an ecology friendly and inexpensive method for MTBE remediation, we used solar radiation with titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) as a photocatalyst. For synthetic samples, almost complete degradation (99 ϩ %) of MTBE was observed at the end of 5-hour test run with 0.05 g/L of slurry TiO 2 . Intermediate products detected were tertiary butyl formate, tertiary butyl alcohol, and trace amounts of acetone. Studies conducted using contaminated groundwater samples with TiO 2 and sunlight showed that aromatic organic species benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) were degraded up to a factor of 10 times faster than MTBE. However, dissolved metals (Fe 2ϩ ) and chloride ions in contaminated waters decreased the photo-activity of TiO 2 for the degradation of MTBE. Reducing the pH of the groundwater samples increased the MTBE degradation rate threefold. Photocatalysis accelerates the solar degradation of MTBE and reduces its half-life by more than 3 orders of magnitude. The study indicated that solar degradation is a low-cost and effective alternative to attenuate MTBE in drinking water supplies. Water Environ. Res., 74, 122 (2002).
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