Investigation of the mechanism and characteristics of copper corrosion by sulfate reducing bacteria

Cu corrosion by Desulfovibrio vulgaris, an example of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB), was investigated. D. vulgaris was first pre-grown in full-strength ATCC 1249 medium with coupons for three days. Then, the medium was switched to fresh media with decreased levels of carbon source. Unlike microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of carbon steel by D. vulgaris, carbon starvation reduced Cu corrosion during the additional seven days of incubation. Experimental data and a thermodynamic analysis indicated that Cu MIC by SRB was caused by secreted sulfide rather than by electron harvesting for energy production, unlikely in the carbon steel MIC by SRB.