​Scott Campbell, Senior Principal Scientist at Kemira, talks about microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) and his role in reducing the risks of corrosion in the oil and gas industry.

Costly corrosion

Annually industries lose over 60 billion US dollars due to corrosion. Metallic corrosion is costly to repair and can lead to serious environmental damage, even loss of life. In 1991 a New Mexico gas pipeline developed a pin-hole sized leak due to MIC. When a family stopped to camp in the area, the explosion vaporized everything and everyone, leaving a 45-foot wide crater behind.

Current estimates indicate as much as 50% of internal corrosion is due to microbially influenced corrosion. We cannot actually prevent metallic corrosion, so my job is to reduce the rate of corrosion to acceptable levels.

Biocides at work

In the oil and gas indusry, we need to ensure a petroleum system does not lose its integrity before the end of its lifespan. In the US we face the added challenge of old  infrastructure being brought back online, extending the original lifespan of 30 to 35 years to 60+years of operation.

We are now working hard on applying Kemira’s biocides to lower the risks of MIC within these systems in order to meet the new lifespan expectations. I perform testing to optimize and find the correct applications through different operating systems: from storage facilities to hydraulic fracking. In addition I provide expert consulting to end users.

Education and standards

The National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) is the leading international authority on corrosion. My history with NACE stretches back 12 years, working as a consultant, committee chair, and lead instructor. This year I joined forces with Kemira. I still work in many roles at NACE. My expertise as a petroleum microbiologist is unique, and I have been asked to be involved in teaching, writing and updating standards that apply to MIC.

Read the whole article from Waterlink 2/2012 (page 20)