BIOLOGICAL CORROSION AT NAVAL SHORE FACILITIES (WITH APPENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON BIOLOGICAL CORROSION)
NAVAL CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB PORT HUENEME CA
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Bacteria and other organisms frequently initiate or accelerate corrosion of metals. Experiments were undertaken to ascertain if the presence of microorganisms is necessary for corrosion to occur. In aerated sea water, iron corrodes fairly rapidly whether or not microorganisms are present but in sea water, from which oxygen is excluded, iron rusts very slowly unless sulfate- reducing bacteria or their metabolic by-product, hydrogen sulfide, is present. To induce rapid anaerobic corrosion, the bacteria must be supplied with carbohydrates or other nutrients. Anaerobic conditions and bacterial nutrients might both be found in the layer of slime that accumulates on the surfaces of structures placed in the ocean.
- Fabrication Metallurgy
- Structural Engineering and Building Technology