Long Term Evaluation of Microbial Induced Corrosion Contribution to Underdeposit Sludge Corrosivity in a Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline

CORROSION 2013, 17-21 March, Orlando, Florida, 2013
Long Term Evaluation of Microbial Induced Corrosion Contribution to Underdeposit Sludge Corrosivity in a Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline
Brendan Crozier, Jenny Been, Haralampos Tsaprailis
Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures
T.D. Place
Enbridge Pipelines Incorporated
ABSTRACT
The sludges that form as the result of internal corrosion in crude oil pipelines at locations that facilitate the deposition and accumulation of entrained solids consist of of varying combinations of hydrocarbons, sand, clay, corrosion by-products, biomass and water. They support robust microbial communities which are suspected of contributing to the overall corrosivity of the sludge.
Authors present results of work done to evaluate the overall contribution of microbial induced corrosion (MIC) on the corrosion rates of steel coupons covered with a pipeline sludge extracted from a pigging operation. The sludge was applied to the coupons in both the as-received and sterilized condition. The coupons were extracted at 30 day intervals for 180 days. Results reveal that despite its high water content, the corrosivity of the sludge was low and that weight loss after the initial 30 days was negligible. The activities of heterotrophic aerobic bacteria (HAB), acid producing bacteria (APB), and sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) in the sludge decreased during the experiment by 2, 1.5 and 1 order of magnitude, respectively. Overall there was no detectable contribution of MIC to the corrosion rates of the coupons during the experiment.
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