Methyl tert-butyl ether

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a volatile organic ether formerly added to gasoline to raise octane and help fuel burn more cleanly. Its high water solubility also makes spills a persistent groundwater-contamination problem.

Reformulated gasoline: Gasoline blended to reduce emissions of selected air pollutants. MTBE became a major oxygenate in US reformulated gasoline.
Ether: An organic compound in which an oxygen atom links two carbon-containing groups. MTBE belongs to this compound family because oxygen connects its methyl and tert-butyl groups.
Thomas Midgley Jr.: An American engineer and inventor associated with leaded gasoline and chlorofluorocarbons. Midgley’s earlier antiknock work established the fuel-additive approach that MTBE later extended.
MTBE contamination in drinking water: The occurrence of MTBE in groundwater and drinking-water sources after gasoline releases. Its taste and odor can make water objectionable at low concentrations.
Octane rating: A measure of gasoline’s resistance to engine knock. MTBE raises gasoline’s octane rating and helps prevent knock.
Gasoline octane enhancement: The improvement of gasoline’s resistance to engine knock through blending or refining. MTBE’s branched structure helps raise octane when blended into fuel.
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990: US legislation that expanded air-pollution controls, including requirements for reformulated gasoline. The amendments helped drive MTBE adoption as a gasoline oxygenate.
Underground storage tank: A tank buried underground for storing liquids such as petroleum fuels. Leaking fuel tanks have been a major source of MTBE releases.
Gasoline oxygenate: An oxygen-containing compound blended into gasoline to alter combustion and fuel properties. MTBE is one of the oxygenates used to meet fuel requirements.
Henry's law: A relationship between a gas’s partial pressure and its concentration in a liquid at equilibrium. It helps explain MTBE’s partitioning between gasoline, water, and air.

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