The Role of Microorganisms in Marine Corrosion
Abstract
Our research under this contract was designed to investigate the role of microorganisms in hydrogen embrittlement. Specific objectives included the quantification of the amounts of microbially produced hydrogen absorbed by sensitive metals; the effect of competition from microbially produced hydrogen between metal surfaces and hydrogen consuming bacteria; and the effect of microbial metabolites on hydrogen absorption by metals. The first stage of this research involved the adaptation of a conventional electrochemical technique in order to provide a quantitative assay of hydrogen production in anaerobic zones between biofilms and metal surfaces. In this first stage of the work, we calculated hydrogen production on a per-cell basis. In all cases we used palladium foil. The advantage of this metal is that hydrogen permeation is not complicated by secondary phases within the metal, and absorption efficiency is very high. Maximum production of hydrogen was calculated at 6.5 x 10 - 11 moles per cell.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 30, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA237062
Entities
People
- Ralph Mitchell
Organizations
- Harvard University