A comparative study of removal of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) from aquatic environments through advanced oxidation methods of H2O2/nZVI, H2O2/nZVI/ultrasound, and H2O2/nZVI/UV

AbstractAbstractThis study compares the efficiency of oxidation with H2O2 and nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI)in the presence of ultrasound and that of oxidation with ultraviolet radiation and H2O2/nZVI in the removal of MTBE from aqueous solutions. The effects of some parameters, such as ultrasound, contact time (2–60 min), concentration of hydrogen peroxide (5–20 ml/L), concentrations of nZVI (0.15–0.45 g/L), pH (2–9), and concentration of MTBE (50–750 mg/L) were investigated. In this study, the best MTBE removal efficiency was obtained at a rate of 89.56% in a concentration of 50 mg/Lat pH 3.5 with optimal H2O2 concentration of 10 ml/L, nZVI concentration of 0.25 g/L, and oxidation time of 15 min. Comparison of the effects of ultrasound with those of ultraviolet radiation, in similar conditions, showed no significant difference in efficiency between the ultrasound and UV (p ˃ 0.05). However, comparing the efficiency of oxidation in the presence of ultrasound and without ultrasound in similar oxidation conditions showed significant differences (p ˂ 0.05). In optimum conditions for oxidation, H2O2/nZVI/ultrasonic can be used as a convenient and efficient method to reduce concentration of MTBE in contaminated waters.Keywords: MTBEnZVIH2O2UVUltrasound AcknowledgmentsThis article was extracted from the Masters’ thesis by Hoshang Maleknia with Project No: 93-7019 at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial and technical support provided by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The authors would like to thank Center for Development of Clinical Research of Nemazee Hospital and Dr Nasrin Shokrpour for editorial assistance.