Severe Corrosion of Carbon Steel in Oil Field Produced Water Can Be Linked to Methanogenic Archaea Containing a Special Type of [NiFe] Hydrogenase

Microorganisms can deteriorate built environments, which is particularly problematic in the case of pipelines transporting hydrocarbons to industrial end users. MIC is notoriously difficult to detect and monitor and, as a consequence, is a particularly difficult corrosion mechanism to manage.


Figure S1
Surface topography of cleaned X52 carbon steel weight loss corrosion coupons after exposure to produced water at A) 32°C and B) 60°C. See Figure 2A for corresponding weight loss corrosion data.

A)
Sterile

Figure S2
Surface topography of cleaned X52 carbon steel weight loss corrosion coupons after exposure to original produced water, sterile or inoculated synthetic produced water at 32°C under organotrophic or lithotrophic conditions. See Figure 2D for corresponding weight loss corrosion data.

Figure S3
A) Surface topography of cleaned X52 carbon steel weight loss corrosion coupons after exposure to produced water or synthetic produced water under simulated pipeline conditions in customized reactors. See Figure 3D for corresponding weight loss corrosion data. B) Microbial community composition on carbon steel coupon surfaces after incubation in customized reactors under simulated pipeline conditions. See Figure 3D for weight loss corrosion rates.   Figure S4 Comparison of corrosion rate, micH gene copies and estimated methanococcal and methanobacterial 16S rRNA gene copies in A) pigging debris samples shown in Figure 1 and B) laboratory tests shown in Figures 2 and 3. Genus specific estimated 16S rRNA gene copies were calculated from total 16S rRNA gene copy numbers obtained by qPCR and relative community composition data from 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The error bars associated with micH qPCR results depict the standard deviation of technical replication (n=3).

Figure S5
Comparison of corrosion rate in kettle tests using sterile synthetic produced water treated with or without (w/o) antibiotics.

Figure S7
Calibration curve of quantitative PCR using a synthetic fragments of micH gene as target and the newly developed primer pair and Taqman™ probe.