Fentonʹs oxidation of MTBE with zero-valent iron

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) has become a contaminant of increasing concern in the U.S. Traditional remediation technologies are successful in removing MTBE from contaminated water, but usually transfer the contaminant from the aqueous to another phase. Fentonʹs oxidation of MTBE provides a promising alternative to traditional remediation techniques in that it may mineralize the contaminant rather than just phase transfer. This bench-scale study investigated the feasibility of Fentonʹs oxidation of MTBE using zero-valent iron as the source of catalytic ferrous iron. The oxidation reactions were able to degrade over 99% of the MTBE within 10 min, and showed significant generation, and subsequent degradation, of the MTBE oxidation byproduct acetone. Second-order rate constants for MTBE degradation were 1.9×108 M−1 s−1 at pH 7.0 and 4.4×108 M−1 s−1 at pH 4.0. The total organic carbon was reduced by over 86% when a H2O2:MTBE ratio of 220:1 or greater was used.