ofMicrobiologicallyInfluencedCorrosionofAluminiumAlloy.doc

Nature and Science, 4(3), 2006, Ganesh and Radhakrishnan, Estimation of Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion PAGE 1 PAGE 4 Estimation of Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion of Aluminium Alloy in Natural Aqueous Environment Balaji Ganesh A, Radhakrishnan T K Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli 620015, Tamil Nadu, India.  HYPERLINK mailto:abganesh_nitt@ abganesh_nitt@,  HYPERLINK mailto:radha@ radha@ Abstract: This paper describes microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) behaviour of aluminium alloy (AA2024-T3) in natural aqueous environment. An optical microscopy is used to confirm the micro colony formation of rod and cocci bacterial species. The viable cell counts after one month are averaged 1730x107CFU/ml and the species Pseudomonas found dominant. The changes in chemical constituents of test solution including pH, dissolved oxygen and conductivity are also studied. Polarization study is also carried out to determine the shift in free corrosion potential of metallic structure due to biofilm formation. Corrosion rate is determined by finding the intersection point of Ecorr and Icorr in the polarization curve. [Nature and Science. 2006;4(3):1-4]. Keywords: aluminum alloy (AA2024-T3); Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC); polarization study 1. Introduction Aluminium is considered a reactive alloy (NACE, 1984). The good corrosion resistance of aluminium is due to the formation of a self-protecting, thin, invisible aluminium oxide film that forms immediately on the metal surface. The protective film is susceptible to corrosion by attack from halide ions such as chlorides. This susceptibility to localized corrosion appears to make aluminium alloys vulnerable to MIC. More reports are for AA2024-T3 alloy is used in aircraft or in underground fuel storage tanks, Little (1991), Wagner (1992), ASM (1985), Rosales (1980), Videla (1986). Contaminants in the fuel such as surfactants, water