Accelerated low water corrosion: the microbial sulfur cycle in microcosm

Martin Smith; Marjorie Bardiau; Richard Brennan; Heidi Burgess; Jon Caplin; Santanu Ray; Thomas Urios

doi:10.1038/s41529-019-0099-9

Accelerated low water corrosion: the microbial sulfur cycle in microcosm

Martin Smith, Marjorie Bardiau, Richard Brennan, Heidi Burgess, Jon Caplin, Santanu Ray, Thomas Urios

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Accelerated low water corrosion is a form of marine steel corrosion caused by bacterial activity. It has a global spread and is potentially responsible for billions of pounds of damage. We have determined in detail both the chemistry of corrosion products and the associated microbiology at a UK site. The corrosion products form a layered structure with iron sulfides at the steel surface and iron oxides and sulfates in contact with water. The iron sulfides are formed by reaction of steel with hydrogen sulfide formed by sulfate-reducing bacteria and are oxidised through a series of sulfur oxidation states by sulfide-oxidising bacteria, forming acid at all stages and encompassing the whole of the bacterial sulfur cycle. The bacteria involved are endemic in anoxic bed sediment, and the process is a response to the presence of steel as an electron donor, and the generation of anoxic microenvironments within corrosion products.

Original language	English
Article number	37
Pages (from-to)	1-11
Journal	npj Materials Degradation
Volume	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-019-0099-9
Publication status	Published - 25 Oct 2019

Bibliographical note

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Keywords

microbially influenced corrosion
sulphate reducing bacteria
sulphur oxidising bacteria
metagenomics
sulphur cycle
Mineralogy

Access to Document

10.1038/s41529-019-0099-9Licence: CC BY-ND

s41529-019-0099-9Final published version, 2.97 MBLicence: CC BY-ND

Heidi Burgess
- H.M.Burgessbrighton.acuk
- School of Applied Sciences - Principal Lecturer
- Centre for Earth Observation Science
Person: Academic
Martin Smith
- martin.smithbrighton.acuk
- School of Applied Sciences - Associate Dean Research and Knowledge Ex
- Centre for Earth Observation Science
Person: Academic

Thermo Fisher ESCALAB 259Xi X Ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS)
Facility/equipment: Equipment

Metagenomics and Physicochemistry of Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion
Burgess, H. (Presenter)
7 Nov 2019
Activity: External talk or presentation › Invited talk

Cite this

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title = "Accelerated low water corrosion: the microbial sulfur cycle in microcosm",

abstract = "Accelerated low water corrosion is a form of marine steel corrosion caused by bacterial activity. It has a global spread and is potentially responsible for billions of pounds of damage. We have determined in detail both the chemistry of corrosion products and the associated microbiology at a UK site. The corrosion products form a layered structure with iron sulfides at the steel surface and iron oxides and sulfates in contact with water. The iron sulfides are formed by reaction of steel with hydrogen sulfide formed by sulfate-reducing bacteria and are oxidised through a series of sulfur oxidation states by sulfide-oxidising bacteria, forming acid at all stages and encompassing the whole of the bacterial sulfur cycle. The bacteria involved are endemic in anoxic bed sediment, and the process is a response to the presence of steel as an electron donor, and the generation of anoxic microenvironments within corrosion products.",

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Accelerated low water corrosion: the microbial sulfur cycle in microcosm

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Profiles

Heidi Burgess

Martin Smith

Equipment

Thermo Fisher ESCALAB 259Xi X Ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS)

Activities

Metagenomics and Physicochemistry of Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion

Cite this