Individual Project 4 << back

Overview

Industrial sector: the oil & gas industry

Research sub-programme: systems for handling stabilised oil

Host partner: UDE - Essen, Germany

Associated partners involved: Statoil and M-I SWACO

Recruited researcher: Agata WIKIEL & Iaryna DATSENKO

Scientists-in-charge: Wolfgang SAND & Mario VERA


Description

Title: role of EPS in biocorrosion initiation or inhibition

Field problem addressed:

Systems for handling stabilised oil like equipment for top side oil export systems, oil transport and processing plants, mostly made of carbon steel in Northern Europe, are subject to high levels of biocorrosion. For example carbon steel risers have been found with corrosion deposits so thick that they could not be treated by corrosion inhibitors. Biocorrosion results in extensive and costly damages for the equipment and additional production losses due to the shutting down of the transport and production units for several weeks. It is most important to better handle biocorrosion during the injection operations to reduce costs and for safety & environmental reasons. For these purposes it is necessary to develop more knowledge about biocorrosion formation, monitoring and mitigation.



Objectives:

The main objectives of this work are:
1. To study Biofilm formation and to characterize EPS produced by different strains of microorganisms present in water samples with focus on corrosion of relevant industrial surfaces.
2. To set up microbial induced corrosion (MIC) tests in the laboratory. Electrochemistry.

3. To isolate different strains of microorganisms from industrial samples (StatoilHydro)
and validation of their influence in MIC.

4. To develop strategies and methods for reduction of MIC (EPS coatings, testing of
antibacterial agents and quorum sensing molecules).