Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) is responsible for a large number of annual failures and integrity issues in conventional oil and gas facilities. Sessile microbes survive and thrive in biofilms bound to metallic surfaces of asset infrastructure. Dang et al. states that ‘almost every abiotic surface of a material is readily colonised by bacteria, algae, and fungi, contributing to the degradation processes of materials’.
Both biocorrosion and MIC refer to the interaction of microbial cells and their metabolic products, such as extracellular polysaccharides (EPS), with an abiotic surface. MIC is an electrochemical process as shown in Fig.1. By extracting nutrients for metabolism and then providing by-products, they trigger cathodic reactions, which cause a severe threat to metallic material integrity.
The diagnostic methods we select from our MIC diagnostics toolbox must therefore focus on surface interaction with a managed approach essential for understanding surface corrosion damage in any corrosion mode forensics where MIC is suspected as a facilitator or influencer. This paper provides insight into the use of TIMA-X technologies and SGS MIRAS diagnostics for this essential demand.
