Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T14:36:44.650Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - Sulphate-reducing bacteria and their role in corrosion of ferrous materials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2009

By
Iwona B. Beech  and
Jan A. Sunner
Edited by
Larry L. Barton  and
W. Allan Hamilton
Larry L. Barton
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico
W. Allan Hamilton
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen
Get access

Summary

INTRODUCTION

In both natural environments and human-made systems, a phylogenetically diverse and heterogeneous group of anaerobic sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) (Barton, 1985; Odom and Singelton, 1993; Postgate, 1984) thrive as members of complex microbial communities, living on surfaces of particles, minerals and manufactured materials, i.e. within biofilms (Characklis and Marshall, 1990; Dar et al., 2005 and references therein).

The presence of biofilms often results in deterioration of colonized substrata. In the case of metallic materials, undesirable change in their properties resulting from material loss under biological influence is termed microbially-influenced corrosion (MIC) or biocorrosion. A number of reviews have been published describing fundamental and practical aspects of MIC (Geesey et al., 2000; Hamilton, 2000; Beech and Coutinho, 2003; Beech and Sunner, 2004).

The annual direct and derived costs of corrosion are estimated to be around 4% of the GNP of developed countries, of which 10–20% are related to biocorrosion (Geesey et al., 2000). In the oil and gas industry, biocorrosion accounts for 15–30% of the corrosion cases, resulting in financial losses in a range of 100 M $ per annum in the USA alone, excluding costs of lost revenues and often necessary remediation treatments. In some cases, for example in the Gulf of Guinea, extremely high rates of pitting-corrosion related to biocorrosion have reduced the life of oil subsea lines to one year (J.-L. Crolet, personal communication).

Type
Chapter
Information
Sulphate-Reducing Bacteria
Environmental and Engineered Systems
 , pp. 459 - 482
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allison, D. G. (1998). Exopolysaccharide production in bacterial biofilms. Biofilm J. 3, paper 2 (BF98002), Online Journals http://www.bdt.org.br/bioline/bfGoogle Scholar
Barton, L. L. (1985). Sulphate-reducing bacteria. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Beech, I. B. (1990). Biofilm formation on metal surfaces. PhD thesis, City of London Polytechnic, Council for National Academic Awards, UK.Google Scholar
Beech, I. B., Cheung, C. W. S., Johnson, D. B. and Smith, J. R. (1996). Comparative studies of bacterial biofilms on steel surfaces using techniques of atomic microscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy. Biofouling, 10, 65–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beech, I. B., Zinkevich, V., Tapper, R. and Gubner, R. (1998). The direct involvement of extracellular compounds from a marine sulphate-reducing bacterium in deterioration of steel. Geomicrobiol. J., 15, 119–132CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beech, I. B., Zinkevich, V., Tapper, R. and Avci, R. (1999). Study of the interaction of exopolymers produced by sulphate-reducing bacteria with iron using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ionisation mass spectrometry. J. Microbiol. Meth., 36, 3–10CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beech, I. B., Campbell, S. A. and Walsh, F. C. (2001a). Marine microbial corrosion. In Stoecker, J. G. (ed.), A Practical Manual on Microbially-Influenced Corrosion volume II, Houston, Texas: NACE. pp. 11.3–11.14.Google Scholar
Beech, I. B., Paiva, M., Caus, M. and Coutinho, C. (2001b). Enzymatic activity and within biofilms of sulphate-reducing bacteria. In Gilbert, P. G., Allison, D., Brading, M., Verran, J. and Walker, J. (eds.), Biofilm Community Interactions: chance or necessity? BioLine, Cardiff, UK, pp. 231–9.Google Scholar
Beech, I. B. (2002). Biocorrosion: role of sulphate-reducing bacteria. In Bitton, G. (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Environmental Microbiology. John Wiley, New York, pp. 465–75.Google Scholar
Beech, I. B. and Coutinho, C. L. M. (2003). Biofilms on corroding materials. In Lens, P., Moran, A. P., Mahony, T., Stoodly, P. and O'Flaherty, V. (eds.), Biofilms in medicine, industry and environmental biotechnology – characteristics, analysis and control. London: IWA Publishing. pp. 115–31.Google Scholar
Beech, I. B. and Sunner, J. A. (2004). Biocorrosion: towards understanding interactions between biofilms and metals. Current Opinions in Biotechnology, 15, 181–6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beech, I. B., Sunner, J. A. and Hiraoka, K. (2005). Microbe–surface interactions in biofouling and biocorrosion processes. International Microbiology, 8, 157–68Google ScholarPubMed
Booth, G. H., Elford, L. and Wakerley, D. S. (1968). Corrosion of mild steel by sulphate-reducing bacteria, an alternative mechanism. Br. Corros. J., 3, 242–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breakell, J. E., Siegwart, M., Foster, K.et al. (2005). Management of accelerated low water corrosion in steel maritime structures. CIRIA, London, UK: Alden Press.Google Scholar
Bryant, R. D., Kloeke, F. V. O. and Laishley, E. J. (1993). Regulation of the periplasmic Fe hydrogenase by ferrous iron in Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 59, 491–5Google ScholarPubMed
Bryant, R. and Laishley, E. (1993). The effect of inorganic phosphate and hydrogenase on the corrosion of mild steel. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 38, 824–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, C. S., Stasio, G., Welch, S. A.et al. (2003). Microbial polysaccharides template assembly of nanocrystal fibers. Science, 303, 1656–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Characklis, W. G. and Marshall, K. C. (1990). Biofilms. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York.Google Scholar
Cheung, C. W. S. (1995). Biofilms of marine sulphate-reducing bacteria on mild steel. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Portsmouth, UK.
Costerton, J. W., Lappin-Scott, H. M. and Cheng, K.-J. (1992). Glycocalyx bacterial. In Lederberg, J. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Microbiology, vol. 2. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 311–17.Google Scholar
Crolet, J.-L. (1993). Mechanism of uniform corrosion under corrosion deposits. J. Mat. Sci., 28, 2589–606CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cypionka, H. (2000). Oxygen respiration by Desulfovibrio species. Annu. Rev. Microbiol., 54, 827–48CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dar, S. A., Kuenen, J. G. and Muyzer, G. (2005). Nested PCR denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis approach to determine the diversity of sulphate-reducing bacteria in complex microbial communities. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 71, 2325–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Da Silva, S., Basséguy, R. and Bergel, A. (2004). Electron transfer between hydrogenase and 316L stainless steel: identification of hydrogenase-catalyzed cathodic reaction in anaerobic MIC. Journal of Electroanal. Chem., 561, 93–102CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dignac, M.-F., Urbain, V., Rybacki, D.et al. (1998). Chemical description of extracellular polymers: implication on activated sludge structure. Water Sci. Technol., 38, 45–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dinh, H. T., Kuever, J., Mußmann, M.et al. (2004). Iron corrosion by novel anaerobic microorganisms. Nature, 427, 829–32CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ford, T., Black, J. P. and Mitchell, R. (1990). Relationship between bacterial exopolymers and corroding metal surfaces. In Proceedings of the NACE Corrosion '90, Paper No. 110. Houston, TX: NACE.
Fournier, M., Dermoun, Z., Durand, M.-C. and Dolla, A. (2004). A new function of the Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough Fe hydrogenase in the protection against oxidative stress. J. Biol. Chem., 279, 1787–93CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fournier, M., Aubert, C., Dermoun, Z.et al. (2006). Response of the anaerobe Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough to oxidative conditions: proteome and transcript analysis. Biochimie, 88, 85–94CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garrett, J. H. (1891). The Action of Water on Lead. London: H. K. Lewis. pp. 23–9.
Geesey, G. G., Beech, I. B., Bremmer, P. J., Webster, B. J. and Wells, D. (2000). Biocorrosion. In Bryers, J. (ed.), Biofilms II: Process Analysis and Applications. Wiley-Liss Inc, New York, pp. 281–326.Google Scholar
Geesey, G. G., Jang, L., Jolley, J. G.et al. (1988). Binding of metal ions by extracellular polymers of biofilm bacteria. Water Sci. Technol., 20, 161–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gubner, R. and Beech, I. B. (1999). Statistical assessment of the risk of biocorrosion in tidal waters. Corrosion 99, Paper 184. Houston, TX: NACE.Google Scholar
Hamilton, W. A. (1998). Sulphate-reducing bacteria: physiology determines their environmental impact. Geomicrobiol. J., 15, 19–28CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, W. A. (2000). Microbially induced corrosion in the context of metal microbe interactions. In Evans, L. V. (ed.), Biofilms: recent advances in their study and control. Singapore: Harwood Academic Publishers. pp. 419–34.Google Scholar
Hamilton, W. A. (2003). Microbially influenced corrosion as a model system for the study of metal microbe interactions: a unifying electron transfer hypothesis. Biofouling, 19, 65–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, J. J., Turner, R. and Ceri, H. (2005). Persister cells, the biofilm matrix and tolerance to metal cations in biofilm and planktonic Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Environmental Microbiology, 7, 981–94CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heidelberg, J. F., Seshadri, R., Haveman, S. A.et al. (2004). The genome sequence of the anaerobic sulphate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. Nature Biotechnology, 20, 554–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iverson, W. P. (1998). Possible source of a phosphorus compound produced by sulphate reducing bacteria that cause anaerobic corrosion of iron. Mat. Perform., 37, 46–9Google Scholar
Iverson, W. P. and Olson, G. J. (1983). Anaerobic corrosion by sulphate-reducing bacteria due to highly reactive volatile phosphorus compound. In Microbial Corrosion, Metals Society, London, 46–53.Google Scholar
Jan-Roblero, J., Romero, J. M. and Amaya, M. (2004). Phylogenetic characterization of a corrosive consortium isolated from a sour gas pipeline. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 64, 862–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, R. A. and Miller, J. D. A. (1971). Corrosion by sulphate-reducing bacteria. Nature, 233, 491–3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kloeke, F. V., Bryant, R. D. and Laishley, E. J. (1995). Localization of cytochromes in the outer membrane of Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Hildenborough) and their role in anaerobic biocorrosion. Anaerobe, 1, 351–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lai, M. E. and Bergel, A. (2000). Electrochemical reduction of oxygen on glassy carbon: catalysis by catalase. J. Electroanal. Chem., 494, 30–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, J. S., Ray, R. I., Lemieux, E. J., Falster, A. U. and Little, B. J. (2004). An evaluation of carbon steel corrosion under stagnant seawater conditions. Biofouling, 20, 237–47CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, J. S., Ray, R. I., Little, B. J. and Lemieux, E. J. (2005). Evaluation of deoxygenation as a corrosion control measure for ballast tanks. Corrosion, 61, 1173–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, W.-C. and deBeer, D. (1995). Oxygen and pH microprofiles above corroding mild steel covered with a biofilm. Biofouling, 8, 273–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewandowski, Z., Dickinson, W. H. and Lee, W. C. (1997). Electrochemical interactions of biofilms with metal surfaces. Water Science and Technology, 36, 295–302CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, W.-C., Lewandowski, Z., Morrison, M., Characklis, W. G., Avci, R. and Nielsen, P. H. (1993b). Corrosion of mild steel underneath aerobic biofilms containing sulphate-reducing bacteria – Part II. At high dissolved oxygen concentrations. Biofouling, 7, 217–39CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, W.-C., Lewandowski, W. Z., Nielsen, P. H. and Hamilton, W. A. (1995). Role of sulphate-reducing bacteria in corrosion of mild steel: a review. Biofouling, 8, 165–94CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, W.-C., Lewandowski, Z., Okabe, S., Characklis, W. G. and Avci, R. (1993a). Corrosion of mild steel underneath aerobic biofilms containing sulphate-reducing bacteria – Part I. At low dissolved oxygen concentrations. Biofouling, 7, 197–216CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, B. and Ray, R. (2002). A perspective on corrosion inhibition by biofilms. Corrosion, 58, 424–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, B. and Wagner, P. (1997). Myths related to microbiologically influenced corrosion. Mater. Performance, 36, 40–4Google Scholar
Lovley, D. R. and Philips, E. J. P. (1994). Novel processes for anaerobic sulfate production from elemental sulfur by sulfate-reducing bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol, 60, 2394–9Google ScholarPubMed
Nielsen, P. H., Lee, W.-C., Lewandowski, Z., Morrison, M. and Characklis, W. G. (1993). Corrosion of mild steel in an alternating oxic and anoxic biofilm system. Biofouling, 7, 267–284CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nonaka, H., Keresztes, G., Shinoda, Y.et al. (2006). Complete genome sequence of the dehalorespiring bacterium Desulfitobacterium hafniense Y51 and comparison with Dehalococcoides ethenogenes 195. Journal of Bacteriology, 188, 2262–74CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ochynski, F. W. and Postgate, J. R. (1963). Some biological differences between fresh water and salt water strains of sulphate-reducing bacteria. In Oppenheimer, C. H. and Thomas, C. C. (eds.), Marine Microbiology, Springfield, III. pp. 426–41.Google Scholar
Odom, J. M. and Singleton, R. (1993). The sulphate-reducing bacteria: contemporary perspectives. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Omoike, A., Chorover, J., Kwon, K. D. and Kubicki, J. D. (2004). Adhesion of bacterial exopolymers to α-FeOOH. Inner-sphere complexation of phosphodiester groups. Langmuir, 20, 11108–14CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pires, R. H., Venceslau, S. S., Morais, F.et al. (2006). Characterization of the Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ATCC 27774 DsrMKJOP Complex. A membrane-bound redox complex involved in the sulphate respiratory pathway. Biochemistry, 45, 249–62CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pitonzo, B. J., Castro, P., Amy, P. S.et al. (2004). Microbiologically influenced corrosion capability of bacteria isolated from Yucca Mountain. Corrosion, 60, 64–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Postgate, J. R. (1984). The Sulphate Reducing Bacteria, 2nd edn. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rabus, R., Ruepp, A., Frickey, T.et al. (2004). The genome of Desulfotalea psychrophila, a sulphate-reducing bacterium from permanently cold Arctic sediments. Environ. Microbiol., 6, 887–902CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Risatti, J. B., Capman, W. C. and Stahl, D. A. (1994). Community structure of a microbial mat: the phylogenetic dimension. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 91, 10173–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scully, J. C. (1990). Fundamentals of Corrosion, 3rd edn. Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Sutherland, I. W. (2001). The biofilm matrix – an immobilized but dynamic microbial environment. Trend. Microbiol., 9, 222–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valencia-Cantero, E., Pena-Cabriales, J. J. and Martinez-Romero, E. (2003). The corrosion effect of sulphate and ferric iron reducing bacterial consortia on steel. Geomicrobiology Journal, 20, 157–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Videla, H. A. (1996). Manual of Biocorrosion. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis Publishers, CRC Press, Inc.Google Scholar
Wolzogen Kuhr, C. A. H. and Vlugt, L. S. (1934). De grafiteering van Gietijzer als electrobiochemisch Proces in anaerobe Grunden. (Graphitization of cast iron as an electrochemical process in anaerobic soils.)Water, 18, 147–51Google Scholar
Widdel, F. (1988). Microbiology and ecology of sulphate and sulfur-reducing bacteria. In Zehnder, A. J. B. (ed.), Biology of Anaerobic Microorganisms. New York: Wiley-Liss, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. pp. 469–586.Google Scholar
Wingender, J., Neu, T. R. and Flemming, H.-C. (1999). What are bacterial extracellular polymeric substances? In Wingender, J., Neu, T. R. and Flemming, H.-C. (eds.), Microbial Extracellular Polymeric Substances: Characterization, Structure and Function. New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×