Surfactant additions to optimize the anti-biofilm activity of chlorinated disinfectants for industrial cleaning

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In the oil and gas industry, biofilms cause biofouling, biocorrosion, biogenic reservoir souring and mechanical blockages. These destructive effects lead to many operational problems such as corrosion failures, production decline, filter plugging and loss of injectivity. Biofilms are microbial colonies encased in an extracellular polymeric matrix, which protects from disinfectants and shear forces. Biofilms develop as slime aggregates in open ponds, supply wells, filters, lines, and storage tanks in oil and gas fields. The huge amounts of conventional disinfectants (glutaraldehyde and quaternary ammonium surfactants) that are normally used to remove biofilms from within pipes have proven to be ineffective in many industrial sites. Thus, there is a need for disinfectants that efficiently target bacterial biofilms more rapidly than conventional methods.