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Characterization of corrosive bacterial consortia isolated from petroleum-product-transporting pipelines

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology volume 85, pages 1175–1188 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Microbiologically influenced corrosion is a problem commonly encountered in facilities in the oil and gas industries. The present study describes bacterial enumeration and identification in diesel and naphtha pipelines located in the northwest and southwest region in India, using traditional cultivation technique and 16S rDNA gene sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA sequences of the isolates was carried out, and the samples obtained from the diesel and naphtha-transporting pipelines showed the occurrence of 11 bacterial species namely Serratia marcescens ACE2, Bacillus subtilis AR12, Bacillus cereus ACE4, Pseudomonas aeruginosa AI1, Klebsiella oxytoca ACP, Pseudomonas stutzeri AP2, Bacillus litoralis AN1, Bacillus sp., Bacillus pumilus AR2, Bacillus carboniphilus AR3, and Bacillus megaterium AR4. Sulfate-reducing bacteria were not detected in samples from both pipelines. The dominant bacterial species identified in the petroleum pipeline samples were B. cereus and S. marcescens in the diesel and naphtha pipelines, respectively. Therefore, several types of bacteria may be involved in biocorrosion arising from natural biofilms that develop in industrial facilities. In addition, localized (pitting) corrosion of the pipeline steel in the presence of the consortia was observed by scanning electron microscopy analysis. The potential role of each species in biofilm formation and steel corrosion is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore, 117576, Singapore

    Aruliah Rajasekar & Yen-Peng Ting

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Sourashtra College, Madurai, 625004, India

    Balakrishnan Anandkumar

  3. Biocorrosion Group, Corrosion Protection Division, Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Karaikudi, 630 006, India

    Sundaram Maruthamuthu

  4. Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering Group, School of Science and Technology, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, TS13BA, Tees Valley, UK

    Pattanathu K. S. M. Rahman

Authors
  1. Aruliah Rajasekar
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  2. Balakrishnan Anandkumar
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  3. Sundaram Maruthamuthu
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  4. Yen-Peng Ting
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  5. Pattanathu K. S. M. Rahman
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Correspondence to Yen-Peng Ting.

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Rajasekar, A., Anandkumar, B., Maruthamuthu, S. et al. Characterization of corrosive bacterial consortia isolated from petroleum-product-transporting pipelines. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 85, 1175–1188 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-009-2289-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-009-2289-9

Keywords

  • Carbon steel API 5 L-X60
  • Petroleum product pipeline
  • Bacterial community
  • 16S rDNA analysis
  • Microbiologically influenced corrosion