Bioinduced corrosion of carbon and alloyed steel by thermophilic microorganisms in the presence of uranyl ions under anaerobic conditions

Abstract

Intensification of corrosion in short-term experiments on carbon (СS) and stainless (SS) steel as materials for underground radioactive waste disposal by thermophilic microbial communities isolated from neutral (Tuva region) and alkaline thermal radionuclide-enriched environments (Tau Tona mine) in the presence of uranium under anaerobic conditions was studied. The corrosion rate of carbon and stainless steel in the presence of the Tau Tona culture increased up to 14 and 3.7 times, respectively. The increase correlated with the predominance of metal-reducing bacteria in the culture. The culture from Tuva, dominated by fermentative bacteria, increased the corrosion rate 6 to 4 times, depending on the type of steel and organic substrate. The main mechanism of microbial corrosion of both types of steel was the dissolution of passivating corrosion products, mainly magnetite, due to their reduction by iron-reducing bacteria or chelation by metabolic products of fermenting bacteria. Surface corrosion was observed on carbon steel and pitting on stainless steel. In the presence of uranyl ions, the corrosion rate of both types of steel increased up to 19 `. Uranyl ions can be reduced to UO2 by microorganisms and will not further affect steel oxidation, furthermore, accumulation of reduced forms of uranium in corrosion products may passivate steel corrosion. It was found that in the presence of organic substances in the environment it can intensify chemical corrosion processes of both types of steel due to the complexation of steel corrosion products, preventing the formation of a passivating corrosion layer. Thus, in the presence of acetate, the corrosion rate of black and stainless steel was 12–36 % higher, in the presence of trehalose it increased the corrosion rate by 1–24 %.