Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) Mechanisms and Mitigation

Xu, Dake
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1374856931

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Chemical Engineering (Engineering and Technology).
Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) has become a major problem in the oil and gas industry due to frequent use of water flooding in enhanced oil recovery that leads to water wetting of pipeline walls. MIC is also of concern in many other industries such as water utilities and nuclear power plants. As infrastructures are aging, MIC threat increases. Sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) are regarded as the primary culprit for pipeline failures caused by MIC. Due to a lack of understanding, MIC has even been considered to be a myth; in corrosion research. Until recently, there has been no clear mechanism that clarifies why and how MIC happens in the field because of its complexity. Indeed, a mechanism that can cogently explain MIC phenomena is needed. The new biocatalytic cathodic sulfate reduction (BCSR) theory proposed by Gu et al. (2009) is bioelectrochemistry based. In BCSR, the bioenergetics can explain why MIC occurs, while the extracellular electron transfer (EET) theory is able to explain how MIC happens. In this work, solid evidence was found to support BCSR. Additional experimental data suggested that MIC can also be caused by nitrate reducing bacteria (NRB), which led to an analogous biocatalytic cathodic nitrate reduction (BCNR) theory. Another experiment to support BCSR was an electron mediator test designed to verify the EET process proposed in BCSR. The experimental results indicated that common electron mediators like riboflavin and FAD were capable of accelerating MIC by promoting electron transport between an iron surface and a biofilm. A starvation test demonstrated that when lacking organic carbon, elemental iron replaced organic carbons as an energy source/electron donor for SRB to obtain their maintenance energy. The output of the test showed that under severe starvation of organic carbon, the largest pit depth was achieved, which was consistent with the prediction of BCSR. The emerging demand and urgent need in the oil and gas industry is to find an efficient method to prevent and mitigate MIC at a reasonable cost. A mixture of D-amino acids, signal molecules to disperse bacterial biofilm, was selected to act as biocide enhancers. The efficacy of the D-amino acid mixture containing D-tyrosine (D-tyr), D-methionine (D-met), D-tryptophan (D-trp), and D-leucine (D-leu) in equal moles was evaluated. The potential of D-tyr and D-met as individual biocide enhancers was also investigated. Considering the cost, toxicity and their biocide enhancement ability, D-amino acids appear to be very attractive.
Tingyue Gu (Advisor)
141 p.
Chemical Engineering
Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion; Sulfate reducing bacteria; Nitrate reducing bacteria; extracellular electron transfer; bioenergentics; D-amino acids; biocide enhancer

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Xu, D. (2013). Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) Mechanisms and Mitigation [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1374856931

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Xu, Dake. Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) Mechanisms and Mitigation. 2013. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1374856931.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Xu, Dake. "Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) Mechanisms and Mitigation." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1374856931

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1374856931
471
© 2013, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) Mechanisms and Mitigation by Dake Xu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.