The influence of surface microbial diversity and succession on microbiologically influenced corrosion of steel in a simulated marine environment

Abstract

To explore how a succession of bacteria grown on steel coupons in a marine environment can influence their corrosion process, we designed a microcosm in laboratory to evaluate corrosion kinetics and microbial diversity over 30 days. The results described a clear influence of corrosion by a succession of different bacterial groups. During the initial period, 2-7 days, a sharp increase in the rate of corrosion was detected accompanied by the presence of Alteromonadaceae, Vibrionaceae, Oceanospirillaceae, Rhodobacteraceae, Rhodospirillaceae and Flavobacteriaceae bacteria families. After 15 days, representatives of families Piscirickettsiaceae and Pseudomonadaceae were also described, accompanied by a continuous corrosion process over the coupons. After 30 days, there was a sudden change in the profile of the bacteria present on the steel coupons, with a prevalence of Halomonadaceae family species, and establishment and continuity of the corrosion process by the biofilm grown on the coupons. The results describe differences in microbial diversity over the time, highlighting certain bacterial lithotrophic species that persisted for most of the experiment, through a complex association between bacteria and metal surfaces, which can be a new starting point for development and maintenance of a favorable microenvironment to accelerate corrosion processes.

Presence of orange tubercles does not always indicate accelerated low water corrosion

“…are known manganese oxidisers (33) and bacteria with this phenotype are associated with corrosion of iron and steel (34). They also could be common surface colonizers contributing to initial MIC biofilm development as reported for several bacterial families including Alteromonadaceae ( Microbulbifer ) (35).…”

Microbial community profiles grown on 1020 carbon steel surfaces in seawater-isolated microcosm

“…Indeed, there are few studies on MIC studies in microcosm conditions. However, such studies have provided valuable information about the microbial structures involved, directly or indirectly in metal corrosion (Rajala et al 2015;Ramírez et al 2016;Li et al 2017;Moura et al 2018).…”

“…Nonetheless, establishing the direct relationship between biofilm and metal corrosion under laboratory conditions, employing a single bacterial species, may not reflect reality, since there is usually the participation of a complex microbial community. An alternative is the use of microcosm systems, where there is an effort to design a closed system in the laboratory that simulates the maximum conditions present in the environment (Angell et al 1997;Mumford et al 2016;Moura et al 2018). One methodology that has been widely employed for the study of biocorrosion under meso-and microcosm conditions, and also in situ environmental conditions, is the description of the microbial community through sequencing of the 16S ribosomal gene.…”

“…The microbial amplicons of the 16S rRNA genes, also called metagenome, enable the description of the taxonomic profile of complex systems of microbial populations present in different samples from natural environmental sites (Rondon et al 2000;Tyson et al 2004). Despite the limitations of metagenome techniques, such as metagenomic methods only describe the taxonomic profile of the biofilm but do not establish a physiological relationship of microorganisms and the corrosion process, in addition to metagenomic sequencing identifying species levels, and many of the characteristics metabolic are found at strain levels, numerous studies employing high-throughput techniques shed light on the participation of microorganisms involved in corrosion (Dang et al 2011;Park et al 2011;Rajala et al 2015;Ramírez et al 2016;Vigneron et al 2016;Bonifay et al 2017;Moura et al 2018). In this study, the analysis of isolated environmental factors can contribute to the understanding of changes in the microbial community, and based on this, we use metagenomics to evaluate how the structure microbial community changes over time in a system where there is no oxygen entry into the microcosm.…”

Electrochemical and theoretical assessment of the effect of two biocides on the corrosion of petroleum steel in sulfur‐polluted Black Sea water

“…Within bacteria, sulfate‐reducing bacteria (SRB), have the largest impact on corrosion due to widespread distribution of sulfate in anoxic environments . SRBs have been implicated in the corrosion of cast iron and steel, ferritic, and other highly alloyed stainless steels, copper nickel and high nickel molybdenum alloys, and so forth …”