The study of marine corrosion of copper alloys in chlorinated condenser cooling circuits: The role of microbiological components

• A monitoring system was set up in a cooling circuit bypass of a marine power plant.
• Copper alloys used for the study: CuNi 70:30 and aluminum brass
• Two different conditions: the outlet seawater from the condenser and inlet seawater, before the antifouling treatment
• Bacteria community on copper alloys after a long period (1 year) and short period (2 days) of exposition to seawater
• Molecular analysis indicated biodiversity with the presence of Marinobacter, Alteromonas and Pseudomonas species.

The present paper reports the on-line monitoring of corrosion behavior of the CuNi 70:30 and Al brass alloys exposed to seawater and complementary offline microbiological analyses.An electrochemical equipment with sensors specifically set for industrial application and suitable to estimate the corrosion (by linear polarization resistance technique), the biofilm growth (by the BIOX electrochemical probe), the chlorination treatment and other physical-chemical parameters of the water has been used for the on-line monitoring.In order to identify and better characterize the bacteria community present on copper alloys, tube samples were collected after a long period (1 year) and short period (2 days) of exposition to treated natural seawater (TNSW) and natural seawater (NSW).From the collected samples, molecular techniques such as DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and identification by sequencing were performed to better characterize and identify the microbial biodiversity present in the samples.The monitoring data confirmed the significant role played by biofouling deposition against the passivity of these Cu alloys in seawater and the positive influence of antifouling treatments based on low level dosages.Molecular analysis indicated biodiversity with the presence of Marinobacter, Alteromonas and Pseudomonas species.