SBIR Phase I: Novel Test Kit for Detection of Microbial Corrosion in Petroleum Systems

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a test kit to enable corrosion engineers and asset integrity managers to detect microbial corrosion. Using this novel test kit, pipeline operators in the oil and gas industry will be able to assess the involvement of microorganisms in causing the corrosion and use appropriate biocides, if necessary, to mitigate microbe-induced corrosion (MIC).

Long-term consequences of better MIC testing and mitigation include less unplanned downtime, fewer spills and accidents, fewer citations and fines, higher levels of personnel safety, a more cost-effective use of industrial biocides, and improved environmental outcomes. Worldwide, annual corrosion monitoring and mitigation costs in the oil and gas industry are estimated to be $1.37 billion.

In the U.S., there are 9,000 oil and gas companies that spend a total of $819 million on their corrosion monitoring/mitigation programs each year. The target market for this novel test kit is the 1,944 upstream/midstream oil and gas companies, where MIC is predominantly seen. At upstream/midstream companies, there are around 1,700 Asset Integrity Managers who spend $320 million on their corrosion monitoring/mitigation programs annually.

The intellectual merit of this project focuses on the development of a prototype MIC test kit, validation of the prototype in the laboratory, validation of the prototype with real-world samples obtained from different oil and gas environments, and continued customer discover with potential strategic partners. A minimum viable product will be produced and will include a test kit with portable potentiostat that will alert the user if microorganisms are causing corrosion by testing real-world samples.

The innovation is based on split-chamber zero resistance ammetry technique (SC-ZRA) that allows users to directly investigate the impact of microbial growth on corrosion. One chamber contains an unsterilized field sample, while the second chamber contains the same field sample that has undergone sterilization. As the microbes grow in the unsterilized chamber, electrons flow across these chambers to indicate the corrosion rate due to microbial corrosion.

The split-chamber design of the SC-ZRA method effectively “subtracts out” abiotic corrosion and isolates corrosion caused solely by biological activity. This project is the first detection method capable of differentiating between abiotic and biotic corrosion without prior knowledge of the microorganisms present.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.