Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether

A detailed Summary of Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether, also know as MTBE, is in a group of gas additives called "oxygenates" because they increase the oxygen level in gasoline. The use of oxygenates has increased significantly since Clean Air Act was signed in 1990. The two-part act mandated the use of cleaner burning gasoline in metropolitan areas throughout the United States as stated by Nichols et al. The most significant part of this act was the reformulated gasoline (RFG) program that took affect in 1995, calling for reformulated gasoline in cities with the worst ground-level ozone (smog). RFG is oxygenated gasoline (minimum of 2 percent oxygen by weight) that is specially blended to have fewer polluting compounds than conventional gasoline (EPA 2000). Not only did the cities and areas that fit the requirements of this act start to use RFG, so did many other states. This, in turn, increased the use of oxygenates, especially MTBE. MTBE was chosen over other oxygenates because of many economic!

reasons. MTBE has very favorable blending characteristics making it easy to produce, it has a low volatility that make it easier to meet emission standards, and it can be shipped through existing pipelines.

If there are no air emissions, activated oxidation techniques using ultra violet light, peroxide, and ozone have been shown to oxidize organic molecules and could be a practical water treatment process. (EPA 2000)

1 Congressional Research Service. Feb 2000. MTBE in Gasoline: Clean Air and Drinking Water Issues. Washington, D.C.

growth yield then aerobes on a particular compound while there growth rate is the same. This creates a high consumption rate of the compound. If organisms are going to be supplied to a contaminant site, it may be advantageous to favor those that grow fast but inefficiently (Riser-Roberts 1998). This research is coming along but still not in use because of discouraging side effects mention above.

4 United State Department of the Interior, USGS. Feb 1998. Environment Behavior and Fate of Methyl tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE). Washington, D.C.

As mentioned before, MTBE has different characteristics then other oxygenates. So other treatment methods not thought to helpful with petroleum spills could be helpful for the distinctive MTBE. One such treatment is the "Pump and Treat" method, which is ex situ. Since MTBE moves fast through the soil, groundwater can be pumped out and treated outside of the soil. A few problems exist in this case. One being that if the MTBE reaches a micropore that is not effected by groundwater, it can slowly diffuse into the groundwater. Aquifers with high total porosity but with low effective porosity remain troublesome in treating any contaminate (EPA 1998). Another problem is the treatment of the water above ground. MTBE does not absorb to carbon well, therefore using granular-activated carbon (GAC), a process where contaminated water is pumped through a bed of granular-activated carbon to remove organic compounds, is not effective because the water must be pasted through many ti!

MTBE is known not for its tendency to biodegrade; nevertheless, degradation of MTBE has been reported on occasion and this ind

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