Microbial consortium influence upon steel corrosion rate, using polarisation resistance and electrochemical noise techniques

The microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) is a process, which affects the oil industry, particularly the hydrocarbons extraction, transport and storage. MIC evaluation has been normally based upon microbiological tests, and just a few references mention alternating methods, such as the electrochemical techniques, which can be used as criteria for their evaluation. In this work, two different electrochemical laboratory techniques, polarisation resistance and electrochemical noise were used, in order to determine the corrosion behaviour of a microbial consortium, obtained from a gas transporting pipeline, located in the southeast of Mexico. The bacteria population growth was found to be different for sessile and plancktonic microorganisms. Moreover, long incubation times were required to reach the maximum concentration of sessile bacteria. The electrochemical techniques used in this study exhibited a similar tendency on the corrosion rate behaviour with time, and values above 0.3 mm year(-1) were observed at the end of the experiments. The experiments were complemented with surface analysis. Scanning electron microscope observation of APIXL52 steel coupons, exposed to the consortium action, revealed bacteria presence, as well as a damaged steel surface. A type of localized corrosion was observed on the metal surface, and it was associated to the bacteria effect. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.