Ozonation and combined ozone/H2O2, UV/ozone and UV/H2O2 for treatment of fuel oxygenates MTBE, ETBE, TAME, and DIPE from water – a comparison of removal efficiencies

Abstract

Methyl tert-butylether (MTBE) used as fuel oxygenate poses problems for water suppliers since it is persistent in the aquatic environment and the removal efficiency by conventional water treatment methods (aeration or activated carbon filtration) is rather low. Substitution by other ether compounds such as ethyl tert-butylether (ETBE), tert-amylmethylether (TAME) or di-isopropylether (DIPE) is discussed, however, their environmental behaviour is similar to that of MTBE. Experiments investigating the elimination efficiency of AOP were carried out in tap water and water from Lake Constance. The elimination efficiency for all treatment processes was found to follow the order: For all compounds under investigation, neither pure ozonation nor UV irradiation yield a considerable concentration decline. Only the formation of highly reactive OH radicals shows a potential for removing the ethers from water. Therefore the addition of H2O2 in equimolar ratio prior to ozone admixing proved to be quite efficient. The application of combined UV/H2O2 showed good results in all cases; the best concentration decline was achieved with UV/ozone. The rate of elimination of the three substitutes for MTBE (ETBE, TAME and DIPE) is higher in all processes; nevertheless, no complete removal could be achieved. Therefore, from the point of view of water suppliers, the use of other ethers as substitute for MTBE is posing the same problems as MTBE.