Bench-Scale Study of Aqueous MTBE Degradation by Combined Advanced Oxidation and Biological Processes

The oxidation of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) by advanced oxidation processes in conjunction with biological treatment in investigated. Firsst, the degradation of MTBE by UV/H2O2 and UV/TiO2 is studied. It is found that the optimum molar ratio or H2O2/MTBE is about 14 while the optimum concentration of TiO2 is 1.5 g/L. In addition, it is observed that a combined process of UV/H2O2 and UV/TiO2 does not have any advantage over each of these processes alone. In the second phase, biodegradability of MTBE by aerobic microorganisms is evaluated in three different approaches including BODu assessment, removal of MTBE by non-acclimated, and acclimated microorganisms. It is shown that the acclimatization of microorganisms enhances the rate of biodegradation of MTBE. Finally, it is observed that the rate of bioreaction is not improved after a photochemical pre-treatment. It is also found that using the integration of photochemical and biological treatment reduced the total residence time.