Characterization of Microbial Communities in Gas Industry Pipelines

Abstract

Culture-independent techniques, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis, and random cloning of 16S rRNA gene sequences amplified from community DNA were used to determine the diversity of microbial communities in gas industry pipelines. Samples obtained from natural gas pipelines were used directly for DNA extraction, inoculated into sulfate-reducing bacterium medium, or used to inoculate a reactor that simulated a natural gas pipeline environment. The variable V2-V3 (average size, 384 bp) and V3-V6 (average size, 648 bp) regions of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA genes, respectively, were amplified from genomic DNA isolated from nine natural gas pipeline samples and analyzed. A total of 106 bacterial 16S rDNA sequences were derived from DGGE bands, and these formed three major clusters: beta and gamma subdivisions of Proteobacteria and gram-positive bacteria. The most frequently encountered bacterial species was Comamonas denitrificans, which was not previously reported to be associated with microbial communities found in gas pipelines or with microbially influenced corrosion. The 31 archaeal 16S rDNA sequences obtained in this study were all related to those of methanogens and phylogenetically fall into three clusters: order I, Methanobacteriales; order III, Methanomicrobiales; and order IV, Methanosarcinales. Further microbial ecology studies are needed to better understand the relationship among bacterial and archaeal groups and the involvement of these groups in the process of microbially influenced corrosion in order to develop improved ways of monitoring and controlling microbially influenced corrosion.Corrosion is a leading cause of pipe failure and is a main component of the operating and maintenance costs of gas industry pipelines (3,10,18,23,30,31,(42)(43)(44)54). Quantifying the cost of corrosion generally, and more specifically the cost associated with microbial corrosion, in the gas industry is not easily done and is controversial. Pipeline corrosion was estimated in 1996 to cost the gas industry about $840 million/year (10), and in 2001 it was estimated that the annual cost of all forms of corrosion to the oil and gas industries was $13.4 billion, of which microbially influenced corrosion accounted for about $2 billion (31). While it is well recognized that chemical and microbial mechanisms both contribute to corrosion, it is uncertain what the relative contribution of microbial activity to overall pipe corrosion is. It has been estimated that 40% of all internal pipeline corrosion in the gas industry can be attributed to microbial corrosion (23, 44), but data are needed to confirm or revise this estimate. Basic research to increase our understanding of the microbial species involved in microbial corrosion and their interactions with metal surfaces and with other microorganisms will be the basis for the development of new approaches for the detection, monitoring, and control of microbial corrosion. A thorough knowledge of the causes of microbially influenced corrosion and an effici...

Thermal effects on microbial composition and microbiologically induced corrosion and mineral precipitation affecting operation of a geothermal plant in a deep saline aquifer

“…has been shown to be a pioneer bacterium of biofilms in e.g. corroded gas steel pipelines (Zhu et al 2003). Thus, Acinetobacter-related species probably encouraged the maturation of a biofilm in the piping of the warm well due to specific pili on their cell surface (Harshey et al 2003) that enable the attachment of cells to the interior pipe surfaces.…”

Detection and Quantification of Sulfate-Reducing and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria in Oilfield Using Functional Markers and Quantitative PCR

“…The presence of high numbers of SRB in injection water treatment facility might be due to better proliferation conditions in the pipeline systems. Formation of biofilms and colonization of pipelines with SRB have been reported in the oil industry [8,9]. The presence of high copy numbers of the apsA gene in most of the analyzed water samples suggests that SRB are colonizing the system and could be contributing to the overall internal corrosion of the pipelines.…”

“…To the contrary, culture-independent methods (molecular tools) based on DNA technology offer many advantages over the culture-dependent methods. They are fast, specific and can be done in situ [8,14].…”

“…They constitute a unique physiological group of microorganisms encompassing around 220 species of 60 genera [6]. The significance of SRB in the environment and oil industry originates from their sulfidogenic activity, which leads to the production of high levels of biogenic H 2 S that causes corrosion and souring in oil fields, reduces oil quality, and threatens workers' heath due to its toxicity [7,8]. However, SRB can be beneficial where they remove sulfate and heavy metals, and can be applied in bioremediation of subsurface habitats contaminated with toxic metals, BTEX, polychloroethens, trinitrotoluene, etc [6,9].…”

Microbial community structures of an offshore and near-shore oil production facilities after biocide treatment and the potential to induce souring and corrosion

“…It is a well-established scientific fact that oil reservoirs harbour and sustain diverse bacterial and archaeal communities (Zhu et al, 2003;Grabowski et al, 2005;Youssef et al, 2009, Li et al, 2006 and multiple groups of microorganisms with diverse physiological and metabolic activities and phylogenetic affiliations have routinely been recovered from oil reservoirs (Voordouw et al, 1996;Orphan et al, 2000;Green and Voordouw, 2003;Jan-Roblero et al, 2004;Magot, 2005;Li et al, 2006, Dahle et al, 2008Pham et al, 2009;Okoro et al, 2014). A comprehensive assessment of the diversity, metabolic processes and habitat conditions within a petroleum reservoir is therefore an important component of reservoir management because the knowledge gained can be useful in mitigating ahead of time potential cases of souring and biocorrosion and can also be used to improve oil production and recovery processes (Li et al, 2012;Youssef et al, 2009).…”