2018, Khandouzi, M.

Project Title (Post MSc): Microbiologically Influenced Severe Failure of Buried Pipelines in a Petrochemical Plant

Visiting MSc student 

This research investigates a severe microbiologically influenced failure in buried amine pipelines in a petrochemical plant. Pipelines/fittings are strategic components of the system in any oil, gas, and petrochemical industry, when it comes to the integrity, productivity, and safe operation.  Pipelines can experience different corrosion degradation mechanisms, among which are the microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). MIC, which is a form of bio-degradation initiated by microorganisms, could have devastating impact on the reliability and lifetime of pipelines. This paper provides a systematic investigation of a severe MIC-related failure in a buried amine pipeline and includes a detailed microstructural analysis, corrosion products/biofilm analyses, and monitoring the presence of causative microorganisms. Conclusions are drawn based on experimental data, obtained from visual observations, optical/electron microscopy, and EDS/XRD analyses. Results show that the failure in this case is attributable to sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), which is a long known important microorganism agent, when it comes to microbial corrosion. The implications of SRB for the observed failure in the buried pipeline are thoroughly discussed in this paper.

Paper:

Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion of a Pipeline in a Petrochemical Plant, J Metals 2019