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套测试套件，使腐蚀工程师和资产完整性经理能够检测微生物腐蚀。使用这种新型检测试剂盒，石油和天然气行业的管道操作员将能够评估引起腐蚀的微生物的参与程度，并在必要时使用适当的杀菌剂来缓解微生物诱导的腐蚀(MIC)。更好的MIC测试和缓解的长期结果包括更少的计划外停机时间，更少的泄漏和事故，更少的传票和罚款，更高的人员安全水平，更具成本效益的工业杀菌剂的使用，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，有9000家石油和天然气公司每年在腐蚀监测/缓解项目上总共花费8.19亿美元。这种新型测试工具的目标市场是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1700名资产完整性经理每年在腐蚀监测/缓解项目上花费3.2亿美元。该项目的智力优势集中在开发原型MIC测试套件、在实验室验证原型、使用从不同石油和天然气环境中获得的真实样本验证原型，以及与潜在战略合作伙伴持续发现客户。将生产出最低限度的可行产品，并将包括一个带有便携式恒电位器的测试套件，该试剂盒将通过测试真实世界的样品来警告用户微生物是否正在导致腐蚀。这项创新基于开口室零阻安培技术(SC-ZRA)，允许用户直接调查微生物生长对腐蚀的影响。其中一个腔室包含未灭菌的现场样本，而第二个腔室包含经过灭菌的相同的野外样本。当微生物在未灭菌的腔室中生长时，电子流经这些腔室，以指示微生物腐蚀造成的腐蚀率。SC-ZRA方法的分隔室设计有效地“减去”了非生物腐蚀，隔离了仅由生物活性引起的腐蚀。该项目是第一个能够在不事先了解当前微生物的情况下区分非生物和生物腐蚀的检测方法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.