Effect of Hydrogenase and Mixed Sulfate-Reducing Bacterial Populations on the Corrosion of Steel
- 1 October 1991
- journal article
- Published by American Society for Microbiology in Applied and Environmental Microbiology
- Vol. 57 (10) , 2804-9
- https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.57.10.2804-2809.1991
Abstract
The importance of hydrogenase activity to corrosion of steel was assessed by using mixed populations of sulfate-reducing bacteria isolated from corroded and noncorroded oil pipelines. Biofilms which developed on the steel studs contained detectable numbers of sulfate-reducing bacteria (10 increasing to 10/0.5 cm). However, the biofilm with active hydrogenase activity (i.e., corrosion pipeline organisms), as measured by a semiquantitative commercial kit, was associated with a significantly higher corrosion rate (7.79 mm/year) relative to noncorrosive biofilm (0.48 mm/year) with 10 sulfate-reducing bacteria per 0.5 cm but no measurable hydrogenase activity. The importance of hydrogenase and the microbial sulfate-reducing bacterial population making up the biofilm are discussed relative to biocorrosion.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Elemental metals as electron sources for biological methane formation from CO2Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 1990
- The role of Thiobacillus albertis glycocalyx in the adhesion of cells to elemental sulfurCanadian Journal of Microbiology, 1984
- Observations of fouling biofilm formationCanadian Journal of Microbiology, 1981