Avaliação da corrosão microbiológica do aço carbono 1020 em água do mar sintética na presença de bactérias redutoras de sulfato

Abstract

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) play an important role in the corrosion of alloys exposed in marine habitats, wet soils and oils. The sulfate reduction by these bacteria results in production of H2S, which may influence processes in the anodic and cathodic corrosion of materials. In this work, the behavior of microbial corrosion in carbon steel AISI 1020 was evaluated in Postgate C medium, in the presence and absence of SRB, which were isolated from a layer of rust on a pipeline submerged in Guanabara Bay - Rio de Janeiro. The corrosion rate and the electrochemical behavior of steel in the two conditions were investigated by weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization methods. Biofilm formation and corrosion products on the steel surface were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). In addition, the quantification of BRS (planktonic and sessile) was carried out by the most probable number method (MPN). The presence of SRB in the medium caused the shift of corrosion potential to more negative values in all experimental times studied, indicating an increase in corrosion. In the weight loss tests, the corrosion rate was higher in the absence of BRS, probably due to the formation of a biofilm on the metal surface in the tests with inoculum, and to a smaller trend of general corrosion with this kind of medium. SEM micrographies revealed the presence of cellular aggregates on the surface of mild steel during the experiment and the presence of deep pittings after the biofilm removal, showing that this kind of corrosion was prevalent . With 35 days of asseys, the corrosion current density increased in the presence of BRS