Mitigation of microbial corrosion by Cu addition in X65 pipeline steel in presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract In this study, we focused on the corrosion behavior of X65 pipeline steel and X65Cu pipeline steel in sterile and P. aeruginosa-containing media. The resistance of Cu-bearing X65 pipeline steel against (microbiologically influenced corrosion) MIC caused by P. aeruginosa was investigated. Results demonstrate that the corrosion rate of X65Cu pipeline steel was lower than that of X65 pipeline steel whether it was in a sterile or bacteria-containing media. It is noticeable that, in the presence of P. aeruginosa, X65Cu pipeline steel can prevent the formation of biofilm to a certain degree and reduce the corrosion rate of X65Cu pipeline steel to less than half as that of X65 pipeline steel. In addition, and the maximum pitting depth and average pitting depth of X65Cu pipeline steel were also much lower than that of X65 pipeline steel. The addition of Cu effectively reduced the corrosion of P. aeruginosa to X65 grade pipeline steel and improved the resistance to MIC pitting corrosion.