Biofouling and Microbial Induced Corrosion -A Case Study

In industrial and fluid handling systems, frequently the protective film forming materials suffer from severe corrosion due to microbial effects. As an example, various micro-organisms, including bacteria, exist in seawater normally fed to power and desalination plants. Unless seawater intakes are properly disinfected to control these microbial organisms, biological fouling and microbial induced corrosion (MIC) will be developed. This problem could destroy metallic alloys used for plant construction. Seawater intakes of cogeneration plants are usually disinfected by chlorine gas or sodium hypochlorite solution. The dose of disinfectant is designed according to the level of contamination of the open seawater in the vicinity of the plant intake. Higher temperature levels, lower pH, reduced flow velocity and oxidation potential play an important role in the enhancement of microbial induced corrosion and bio-fouling. This paper describes, in brief, the different types of bacteria, mechanisms of microbiological induced corrosion, susceptibility of different metal alloys to MIC and possible solutions for mitigating this problem in industry. A case study is presented for the power plant steam condenser at Al-Taweelah B-station in Abu Dhabi. The study demonstrates resistance of Titanium tubes to MIC.