Abstract
IN THIS study, a consortium of halotolerant sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) was obtained from a water sample collected from an Egyptian oil-field. North Bahreyia Petroleum Company (NORPETCO) is one of the petroleum companies that suffer from severe corrosion. The present study aim to investigate the microbial structures of this consortium and their potential contributed to microbial corrosion. Dissimilatory sulfite reductase dsrAB gene sequences analysis indicated that the mixed bacterial consortium contained two main phylotypes: members of the Proteobacteria (Desulfomicrobium sp., Desulforhopalus sp., and Desulfobulbus sp.) and Firmicutes (Desulfotomaculum sp.). Mild steel C1018 coupons were incubated in the presence of SRB consortium for a period of 35 days, the evolution of corrosion was studied using weight loss and dissolved sulfide production of SRB consortium. Results indicated that, the corrosion rate in the presences of SRB was approximately 15 times of that for the control. Furthermore, sessile cells (biofilm) and subsequent corrosion products that developed were characterized by scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX).