• Eckert, Richard B.
• Abillo, Andre
• Wolodko, John
• Skovhus, Torben Lund

Abstract

Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) is an interdisciplinary threat to the oil and gas industry. Currently 10-40% of all corrosion issues in the sector are related to MIC. However, due to the unpredictability that microorganisms add to MIC management and diagnosis, MIC is yet not fully understood. The present study was performed to assess the current methods used to diagnose MIC in oil and gas production pipelines. A comprehensive review of 50 failure assessments ran between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2019 in the Province of Alberta, Canada, was carried out. Lines of evidence related to microbiology, chemistry, metallurgy and 25operating factors were reviewed and the frequency in which they were considered was quantified. Biotic independent factors (chemical, metallurgical, and operating) were assessed in more than 90% of the assessments while only 70% took microbiological analyses into consideration. Molecular microbiological methods (MMM) were ran for only 6 to 10% of the assessments. Additionally, this study offers a traceable number that can be linked to MIC: 11.7% of corrosion failures in oil and gas production pipelines in Alberta between the 3-year period reviewed was caused by MIC either as the main failure mechanism or as a contributing factor. Therefore, this presentation aims to discuss best tactics for MIC failure investigations and how to integrate the interdisciplinary lines of evidence required to conclusively diagnose MIC. Also emphasizing the need for optimized tools, such as MMM, to bridge the current gap where only 70% of microbiological driven failures were evaluated by microbiological tools.

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• corrosion