HR: 0830h
AN: H21D-0851    [PDF]
TI: MTBE Hydrolysis in Dilute Aqueous Solution Using Heterogeneous Strong Acid Catalysts
AU: * Rixey, W G
EM: wrixey@uh.edu
AF: University of Houston, Dept. Civil & Environ. Engr., 4800 Calhoun, Houston, TX 77204-4003 United States
AB: The objective of this research has been the development of a potential in situ catalytic process for the hydrolysis of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) to tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) and methanol in ground water. Bench-scale batch reactor studies were conducted over a temperature range of 23 deg C to 50 deg C with several heterogeneous strong acid catalysts to obtain rates of hydrolysis of MTBE to TBA and methanol at dilute concentrations in water. Continuous flow experiments were then conducted to obtain kinetic data over a temperature range of 15 deg C to 50 deg C for various flow rates for the most active catalysts. It was found that the batch and continuous flow experiments yielded similar intrinsic kinetic rate constants when sorption of MTBE to the catalyst was accounted for. Additional fixed-bed experiments were conducted with deionized water and 0.005 M CaCl2 feed solutions containing 100 mg/L MTBE, respectively, to assess the deactivation of the catalyst, and deactivation was found to be controlled by ion exchange of H+ in the catalyst with Ca+2 in the feed. Our results indicate that, for low to moderate groundwater velocities and cation concentrations at ambient temperatures, an in situ reactive barrier process using the most active catalysts studied in this research could be a viable process in terms of both suitable conversion of MTBE and catalyst life. Although application to in situ remediation is emphasized, the results of this research are also applicable to ex-situ groundwater treatment.
DE: 1829 Groundwater hydrology
DE: 1831 Groundwater quality
DE: 1832 Groundwater transport
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting