SBIR Phase I: Novel Test Kit for Detection of Microbial Corrosion in Petroleum Systems

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发一个测试套件，使腐蚀工程师和资产完整性经理能够检测微生物腐蚀。 使用这种新型的测试套件，石油和天然气行业的管道运营商将能够评估微生物在引起腐蚀方面的参与程度，并在必要时使用适当的杀菌剂来减轻微生物引起的腐蚀（MIC）。更好的MIC测试和缓解措施的长期后果包括更少的计划外停机时间，更少的泄漏和事故，更少的引用和罚款，更高的人员安全水平，更经济有效地使用工业杀菌剂，以及改善环境结果。 在全球范围内，石油和天然气行业每年的腐蚀监测和缓解成本估计为13.7亿美元。在美国，每年有9，000家石油和天然气公司在其腐蚀监测/缓解计划上花费总计8.19亿美元。这种新型检测试剂盒的目标市场是1，944家上游/中游石油和天然气公司，其中MIC占主导地位。在上游/中游公司，大约有1，700名资产完整性经理每年花费3.2亿美元用于腐蚀监测/缓解计划。 该项目的智力价值集中在原型MIC测试套件的开发，原型在实验室中的验证，原型与从不同的石油和天然气环境中获得的真实世界样品的验证，以及与潜在的战略合作伙伴的持续客户发现。 将生产最小可行产品，并将包括一个带有便携式恒电位仪的测试套件，该套件将通过测试真实世界的样品来提醒用户微生物是否导致腐蚀。 该创新基于分裂室零电阻电流测量技术（SC-ZRA），允许用户直接研究微生物生长对腐蚀的影响。 一个腔室包含未灭菌的现场样品，而第二个腔室包含已灭菌的相同现场样品。 当微生物在未灭菌的腔室中生长时，电子流过这些腔室以指示由于微生物腐蚀引起的腐蚀速率。 SC-ZRA方法的分裂室设计有效地“减去”非生物腐蚀并隔离仅由生物活性引起的腐蚀。 该项目是第一个能够区分非生物和生物腐蚀的检测方法，而无需事先了解存在的微生物。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a test kit to enable corrosion engineers and asset integrity managers to detect microbial corrosion. Using this novel test kit, pipeline operators in the oil and gas industry will be able to assess the involvement of microorganisms in causing the corrosion and use appropriate biocides, if necessary, to mitigate microbe-induced corrosion (MIC). Long-term consequences of better MIC testing and mitigation include less unplanned downtime, fewer spills and accidents, fewer citations and fines, higher levels of personnel safety, a more cost-effective use of industrial biocides, and improved environmental outcomes. Worldwide, annual corrosion monitoring and mitigation costs in the oil and gas industry are estimated to be $1.37 billion. In the U.S., there are 9,000 oil and gas companies that spend a total of $819 million on their corrosion monitoring/mitigation programs each year. The target market for this novel test kit is the 1,944 upstream/midstream oil and gas companies, where MIC is predominantly seen. At upstream/midstream companies, there are around 1,700 Asset Integrity Managers who spend $320 million on their corrosion monitoring/mitigation programs annually. The intellectual merit of this project focuses on the development of a prototype MIC test kit, validation of the prototype in the laboratory, validation of the prototype with real-world samples obtained from different oil and gas environments, and continued customer discover with potential strategic partners. A minimum viable product will be produced and will include a test kit with portable potentiostat that will alert the user if microorganisms are causing corrosion by testing real-world samples. The innovation is based on split-chamber zero resistance ammetry technique (SC-ZRA) that allows users to directly investigate the impact of microbial growth on corrosion. One chamber contains an unsterilized field sample, while the second chamber contains the same field sample that has undergone sterilization. As the microbes grow in the unsterilized chamber, electrons flow across these chambers to indicate the corrosion rate due to microbial corrosion. The split-chamber design of the SC-ZRA method effectively “subtracts out” abiotic corrosion and isolates corrosion caused solely by biological activity. This project is the first detection method capable of differentiating between abiotic and biotic corrosion without prior knowledge of the microorganisms present.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.