A study on the microbial biocorrosion behavior of API 5 L X65 carbon steel exposed to seawater

Abstract

Despite much progress achieved, corrosion in oil and gas pipelines remains a concern due to industrial failures, and environmental and economic damages. Oil and gas pipeline failures are very common as a result of the natural degradation of carbon steel exposed to the marine environment. It has been reported that the presence of microorganisms in seawater contributes to the intensification of corrosion and subsequent biofilm formation on metal surfaces. Few scientific publications have investigated the effects of seawater containing natural microorganisms on the internal corrosion of pipelines, which is the motivation for this study. The present study aims to report the corrosion behavior of carbon steel American Petroleum Institute (API) 5 L X65 exposed to seawater collected from the Persian Gulf containing microorganisms such as sulfate‐reducing bacteria (SRB), iron‐reducing bacteria (IRB), and acid‐producing bacteria (APB). Microorganisms were detected, segregated, colonized, and finally injected into autoclaved seawater to investigate their effect on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel. Nondestructive electrochemical techniques were performed to study the corrosion behavior and field emission electron microscope images and energy dispersive x‐ray analysis (EDS) were also utilized to characterize the corrosion products. The results confirmed the amounts of oxygen and iron presented of FeO as the main corrosion product in abiotic conditions. Corrosion products and electrochemical properties of steel have been influenced by microbial activity. The variation of the open circuit potentials (OCP) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) demonstrated that SRB and APB could not only significantly harm an alloy, but also could alter its electrochemical behavior from uniform to local damage. The outcomes proved that biofilm formation and bacterial activity can cause serious degradation.

Effect of Acetate on Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion of Internal Pipeline Surfaces

“…This increase in the corrosion rate was due to the production of a corrosive byproduct, H 2 S, by SRB. This byproduct reacts with carbon steel to form FeS, which is corrosive [43].…”

“…The pitting and sulphur deposit on the surface of carbon steel, indicating the production of hydrogen sulphide as a byproduct of its metabolism reacting with the metal surface to form FeS [43]. It was observed that more sulphur deposits were detected via EDX in the PMB media, resulting in severe pitting on the carbon steel surface.…”