Establishing the root cause of a failure in a firewater pipeline

This paper investigates a microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) in a buried firewater pipeline in a petrochemical plant. The failure in this case is in the form of large tubercles inside pipes. Tubercle blisters were made of colonies of microorganisms and corrosion products. The formation of tubercles is often an indication of MIC. MIC-induced blistering is usually associated with pitting and this in long-term operation can be devastating, when it comes to the integrity and reliability of a buried firewater pipeline. This paper investigates a MIC-related failure in a buried firewater pipeline. Microstructural, corrosion, and biofilm analyses were used to thoroughly evaluate the root cause of this failure. Failure in this case was analyzed using visual observations, X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, optical, and electron microscopies. Results showed that the observed failure of the pipeline in this case is due to sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) corrosion. Some mitigation measures were proposed to minimize the risk of similar failures in firewater pipelines.

Automated summary

This paper investigates a MIC-related failure in a buried firewater pipeline, identifying the cause of failure as corrosion by sulfate-reducing bacteria. Mitigation measures were proposed to minimize the risk of similar failures in firewater pipelines based on microstructural, corrosion, and biofilm analyses.