Abstract
This study provides a deep modern insight into the phylogenetic diversity among bacterial consortia found in working and nonworking high‐methane natural gas pipelines located in Poland. The working pipeline was characterized by lower biodiversity (140–154 bacterial genera from 22 to 23 classes, depending on the source of the debris) in comparison to the off‐gas pipeline (169 bacterial genera from 23 classes). The sediment recovered from the working pipeline contained mostly DNA identified as belonging to the phylum Firmicutes (66.4%–45.9% operational taxonomic units [OTUs]), predominantly Bacillus (41.4%–31.1% OTUs) followed by Lysinibacillus (2.6%–1.5% OTUs) and Clostridium (2.4%–1.8% OTUs). In the nonworking pipeline, Proteobacteria (46.8% OTUs) and Cyanobacteria (27.8% OTUs) were dominant. Over 30% of the Proteobacteria sequences showed homologies to Gammaproteobacteria, with Pseudomonas (7.1%), Enhydrobacter (2.1%), Stenotrophomonas (0.5%), and Haempohilus (0.4%) among the others. Differences were noted in terms of the chemical compositions of deposits originating from the working and nonworking gas pipelines. The deposits from the nonworking gas pipeline contained iron, as well as carbon (42.58%), sulphur (15.27%), and oxygen (15.32%). This composition can be linked to both the quantity and type of the resident microorganisms. The presence of a considerable amount of silicon (17.42%), and of aluminum, potassium, calcium, and magnesium at detectable levels, may likewise affect the metabolic activity of the resident consortia in the working gas pipeline. All the analyzed sediments included both bacteria known for causing and intensifying corrosion (e.g., Pseudomonas, Desulfovibrio, Shewanella, Serratia) and bacteria that can protect the surface of pipelines against deterioration (e.g., Bacillus). Biocorrosion is not related to a single mechanism or one species of microorganism, but results from the multidirectional activity of multiple microbial communities. The analysis presented here of the state of the microbiome in a gas pipeline during the real gas transport is a particularly valuable element of this work.
Highlights
According to the estimates, about 20% of global natural gas deposits originate from biogenic processes (Rice & Claypool, 1981)
Natural gas pipelines are an extreme habitat for microorganisms, in which multidirectional stress factors cause the selection of microbial communities
This study has presented an in‐depth analysis of the microbial diver‐ sity in consortia residing in natural gas transmission lines in Poland
Summary
About 20% of global natural gas deposits originate from biogenic processes (Rice & Claypool, 1981). Studies of microbiomes in natural gas wells have found wide microbial diversity, especially in the case of unconventional gas resources (Davis, Struchtemeyer, & Elshahed, 2012; Katayama et al, 2015; Mochimaru et al, 2007; Yoshioka, Mochimaru, Sakata, Takeda, & Yoshida, 2015). Autochthonous microflora, including methanogens such as Methanobacterium and ac‐ etogenic Eubacterium, is common in gas pipeline networks, and microorganisms belonging to the phyla Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacterioidetes, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Gammatimonadetes, Planctomycetes, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia that usually in‐ habit drilling mud and fracturing fluids (Struchtemeyer, Davis, & Elshahed, 2011). Microorganisms can be introduced into gas net‐ works during pipeline replacements, repairs, or extensions. In such cases, the gas lines become contaminated by microbes that usually inhabit soil, water, and air ecosystems and which are not specific to natural gas—that is, Bacillus, Clostridium, Pseudomonas
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