Carbon steel corrosion by bacteria from failed seal rings at an offshore facility

Abstract

Corrosion of carbon steel by microorganisms recovered from corroded seal rings at an offshore floating production facility was investigated. Microbial diversity profiling revealed that communities in all sampled seal rings were dominated by Pseudomonas genus. Nine bacterial species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa CCC-IOB1, Pseudomonas balearica CCC-IOB3, Pseudomonas stutzeri CCC-IOB10, Citrobacter youngae CCC-IOB9, Petrotoga mobilis CCC-SPP15, Enterobacter roggenkampii CCC-SPP14, Enterobacter cloacae CCC-APB1, Cronobacter sakazakii CCC-APB3, and Shewanella chilikensis ccc-APB5 were isolated from corrosion products and identified based on 16S rRNA gene sequence. Corrosion rates induced by the individual isolates were evaluated in artificial seawater using short term immersion experiments at 40 °C under anaerobic conditions. P. balearica, E. roggenkampii, and S. chilikensis, which have not been associated with microbiologically influenced corrosion before, were further investigated at longer exposure times to better understand their effects on corrosion of carbon steel, using a combination of microbiological and surface analysis techniques. The results demonstrated that all bacterial isolates triggered general and localised corrosion of carbon steel. Differences observed in the surface deterioration pattern by the different bacterial isolates indicated variations in the corrosion reactions and mechanisms promoted by each isolate. Corrosion is a ubiquitous problem that affects almost all industrial sectors including oil and gas production, transportation and refining facilities 1,2 , mining 3 , marine engineering and shipping 4,5 , industrial water systems 6 , food processing plants 7 , nuclear industries 8 , among others. This phenomenon occurs via electrochemical reactions, where electrons are released from the metal at anodic sites and are gained at cathodic sites 9. Although assessment of the cost of corrosion is difficult, the NACE International IMPACT study estimated the global cost of corrosion as US$2.5 trillion in 2013 10. Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) has been estimated to contribute at least 20% to 40% of the total corrosion costs 11,12. The loss of integrity of industrial infrastructure can result in substantial economic, environmental, health, safety and technological consequences 13. MIC is a type of corrosion in which the deterioration of metals occurs due to the presence and activity of microorganisms 14. Microorganisms initiate, facilitate or accelerate corrosion reactions by altering the electrochemical conditions in the metal-solution interface 15. Compared to other forms of corrosion, MIC is highly unpredictable and occurs at rates as high as 10 mm year −116. Early detection of MIC is difficult due to its localised nature and the wide range of environmental conditions and associated microorganisms 17. MIC has been proposed as the cause of failure in many significant incidents in the hydrocarbon industry such as the propane tank leak and explosion in Umm Said NGL Plant (Qatar) 18 , the natu...

Evaluation of a novel, multi-functional inhibitor compound for prevention of biofilm formation on carbon steel in marine environments

“…S. chilikensis is a facultative anaerobe. Metabolic traits and genes associated with metal reduction present in the genome of this isolate, native location and previous findings of the isolate 26 , 45 , were selective criteria resulting in use of S. chilikensis DC57 for this study. The attachment and inhibition of this isolate on metallic substrates have not been investigated so far.…”

“…S. odeniensis for example is attracted to iron oxide surfaces where it expresses proteins such as cytochromes to reduce FeIII + . Shewanella chilikensis strain DC57 was isolated from a floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) where it was thought to be involved in MIC 26 , 45 . Very little has been revealed about S chilikensis since its recent discovery by Sucharita et al in the Chilika lagoon, India 46 .…”

Efficiency of a Novel Multifunctional Corrosion Inhibitor Against Biofilms Developed on Carbon Steel

“…and Pseudomonas sp., previously identified marine taxa, represented the dominant species of the consortium. Although little is known about Paramaledivibacter sp., the Shewanella and Pseudomonas genus are frequently associated with MIC of steels in marine environments (De Windt et al, 2003;Yuan et al, 2007;Machuca Suarez et al, 2016;Salgar-Chaparro et al, 2020a;Wurzler et al, 2020).…”

In Situ Investigation of Under-Deposit Microbial Corrosion and its Inhibition Using a Multi-Electrode Array System

“…This study aims to investigate UDMC by Enterobacter roggenkampii , a FeONRB isolated from an oil production facility in Western Australia ( Salgar-Chaparro et al, 2020 ). The inhibition of UDMC by E. roggenkampii was evaluated using an organic, film-forming CI, 2-mercaptopyrimidine (MPY).…”