Contaminated land and groundwater remediation
Removal of MTBE pollutant from groundwater using photocatalysis.
- Post-Doc: Steve Rolt
- PhDs: May Chan, Leonard Lim
- MEng students: Emily Warren, Andy Wiggan
- MSc Cagliari: Alice Meloni, Nicola Giuliani, Maria Elena Lusci
Experimental simulation of MTBE clean-up from a leaking tank (Leonard Lim 2009)
(upper) and side section (lower) of the sand tank.
The MTBE solution was injected at the injection point, simulating a leaking underground tank. The groundwater is improved by photocatalysis - UV light falls on the catalyst, generating OH radicals which decompose MTBE to CO2 and water.
Plume of MTBE at 6cm (upper) and 12cm (lower), at increasing times.
The clean-up occurs in the hexagonal reactor.
Reference: Lim LL P, R J Lynch, In Situ Photocatalytic Attenuation of Organics in Groundwater. ConSoil 2010, Salzburg, Austria, 22-24 September 2010.
