Insight into cutting edge corrosion research
A Charles Darwin University researcher will provide an insight into the cutting edge corrosion research being conducted at the North Australian Centre for Oil and Gas (NACOG) at an event next week.
Dr Margarita Vargas will present her research as part of the Corrosion and Solutions for the Water and Wastewater Industries event to be held at NACOG on September 25.
Corrosion-related damage costs the industry between 3 and 5 per cent of GDP, which equates to trillions of dollars each year world-wide. The research at NACOG focuses on corrosion-related issues relevant to the oil and gas industry in tropical environments.
“Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) is a problem in structures that are immersed in sea waters as well as in many other microbiologically active environments,” Dr Vargas said. “We want to find out how marine organisms affect the corrosion behaviour of structural materials such as pipelines and offshore rigs.
“This is an exciting area because microbes and microbial metabolism can create conditions for the corrosion of metals even when the material is thought to be immune to corrosion. It is especially important, because the oil and gas industry produces a number of microbes from the drilling sites in addition to what is found in the marine environments.”
Dr Vargas will present the results of MIC on duplex stainless steel and its weldments in the presence of marine sulphate reducing bacteria in a chloride environment. “I will discuss the correlation between the duplex stainless steel microstructure, bacterial activity and biofilm formation on the accelerated degradation of such materials,” Dr Vargas said.
Along with trying to shed some light on how microorganisms impact the integrity of materials, the team also will look at the microstructure of the material, or how a material is made up, and how the structure can be improved.
The event will be held on Wednesday, 25 September from 5pm (for 5:30 pm start) to 7pm NACOG, Building Pink 7, CDU Casuarina campus. To register visit W: www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=58524.