Microorganisms in Heat Supply Systems and Internal Corrosion of Steel Pipelines

In laboratory experiments with batch cultures of thermophilic microorganisms isolated from urban heat supply systems, the growth of sulfate-reducing, iron-oxidizing, and iron-reducing bacteria was found to accelerate the corrosion rate of the steel-3 plates used in pipelines. In the absence of bacteria and dissolved oxygen, minimal corrosion was determined. The aforementioned microorganisms, as well as sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, were found to be widespread in water and corrosion deposits in low-alloy steel pipelines (both delivery and return) of the Moscow heat networks, as well as in the corrosion deposits on the steel-3 plates in a testing unit supplied with the network water. The microorganisms were found in samples with a water pH ranging from 8.1 to 9.6 and a temperature lower than 90°C. Magnetite, lepidocrocite, goethite, and X-ray amorphous ferric oxide were the corrosion products identified on the steel-3 plates, as well as siderite, aragonite, and S⁰. The accumulation of corrosion deposits and variation in the total and local corrosion of the steel plates in a testing unit were considered in terms of the influence of microbial processes.