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Bioremediation of MTBE: a review from a practical perspective

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Abstract

The addition of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) to gasoline has resulted in public uncertainty regarding the continued reliance on biological processes for gasoline remediation. Despite this concern, researchers have shown that MTBE can be effectively degraded in the laboratory under aerobic conditions using pure and mixed cultures with half-lives ranging from 0.04 to 29 days. Ex-situ aerobic fixed-film and aerobic suspended growth bioreactor studies have demonstrated decreases in MTBE concentrations of 83% and 96% with hydraulic residence times of 0.3 hrs and 3 days, respectively. In microcosm and field studies, aerobic biodegradation half-lives range from 2 to 693 days. These half-lives have been shown to decrease with increasing dissolved oxygen concentrations and, in some cases, with the addition of exogenous MTBE-degraders. MTBE concentrations have also been observed to decrease under anaerobic conditions; however, these rates are not as well defined. Several detailed field case studies describing the use of ex-situ reactors, natural attenuation, and bioaugmentation are presented in this paper and demonstrate the potential for successful remediation of MTBE-contaminated aquifers. In conclusion, a substantial amount of literature is available which demonstratesthat the in-situ biodegradation of MTBE is contingent on achieving aerobic conditions in the contaminated aquifer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., 180 Grand Ave. Suite 1000, Oakland, California, 94612-3754, USA

    Andrew J. Stocking, Amparo E. Flores & Michael C. Kavanaugh

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, 631 Davis Hall, MC 1710, Berkeley, California, 94720-1710, USA.

    Rula A. Deeb

  3. Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., Oakland, California, 94612

    Rula A. Deeb

  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, MS: 70A-3317, Bldg. 70A, Room 3317, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    William Stringfellow

  5. Environmental Laboratory, US Army Corp of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), MS: CEWES-EF-R, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, Mississippi, 39180, USA

    Jeffrey Talley

  6. Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., 104 Corporate Park Drive, Box 751, White Plains, New York, 10602-0751, USA

    Richard Brownell

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  1. Andrew J. Stocking
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Stocking, A.J., Deeb, R.A., Flores, A.E. et al. Bioremediation of MTBE: a review from a practical perspective. Biodegradation 11, 187–201 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011126414642

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