Iranian Association of Environmental Health (IAEH)
Abstract
Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) has been commonly used as a fuel
additive because of its many favorable properties that allow it to
improve fuel combustion. Unfortunately, increased production and use
have led to its introduction into the water supplies. Accordingly,
research studies have been initiated to investigate the treatment of
contaminated water. Degradation of MTBE in aqueous solution by Fenton
reagent (Fe2+ and H2O2 ) was investigated. This study used Fenton
reagent to oxidize MTBE with an attempt to explore the behavior of MTBE
decomposition and measure how factors such as pH, [H2O2 ] and [Fe2+]
may influence the degradation of MTBE, and finally the optimum
conditions were obtained. Under optimum conditions of 50 mL H2O2 , 0.65
g/L Fe2+, pH=3-4 and room temperature, the initial 1000 mg/L MTBE
solution was reduced by 99% within 120 min. The results showed that
application of Fenton reagent was an effective method for degradation
of MTBE
