End-user Interview

Microbial corrosion: time for recognition

Dr. Reza Javaherdashti is a self-employed corrosion and materials consultant who holds a double degree in Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering and a PhD in Materials Science and whose particular eld of interest is low temperature and microbial corrosion. Recently he has been working on projects in the oil & gas, power generation/transmission industries as well as the design and execution of industry courses on microbial corrosion (MIC). Despite his busy schedule, Dr. Javaherdashti found time to talk to Stainless Steel World News about his job, its highlights and the challenges he faces. By John Buttereld and Gillian Gane concentrates more on the managerial side of problem solving giving managers a check list to highlight what corrosion surprises they may have to overcome. I believe that, by applying the correct training coupled with CKM, many corrosion problems related to material use, particularly in steels, can be addressed in a more practical way and with a higher feasibility. A materials based approach The nature of his role as a consultant means that Dr. Javaherdashti usually works on his own although, depending on the project, he may use third party laboratory services or consult with peers who have experience on a particular issue. Often I work on more than one project at a time with completely different topics, he tells us. Not only do I have to ensure precise work on each, I have to keep to specied timeframes or have a very good reason for not meeting a clients deadline. Dr. Javaherdashti explains that he always tries to use a material based approach rather than a system based approach. He gives us an example: If I want to investigate a problem with a boiler, for instance, I need to know about the systems how it functions and its common problems. On the other hand, a materials based approach looks at the material itself, regardless of the industry and the system its used in. If, for example, I know under what conditions austenitic stainless steel 316 or 304 corrodes the rest is pretty irrelevant. But I do use both approaches, depending on the job requirements. Occasionally the job can bring some revelations. Whilst duplex stainless steels are normally known for their corrosion resistance, Dr. Javaherdashti was surprised to see that SAF2205 was quite vulnerable to stress corrosion cracking in the presence of iron reducing bacteria. My research on the link between bacterial species and enhancement of failure due to SSRT proved to me that neither austenitic nor austenitic-ferritic steels can be completely trusted when it comes to MIC, he conrms. Time to recognise the importance of MIC We ask Dr. Javaherdashti what challenges he faces as a consultant and what aspects of his job he especially enjoys. I like the fact that every job is an opportunity to expand my horizons and learn more. I have to think about several issues in a typical working day, from administration to the core engineering and root cause analysis. I nd that rewarding as it pushes my boundaries. One of his most challenging issues is convincing colleagues about the importance of corrosion! He explains: It is a bitter reality that most of the time corrosion experts are called in when the damage is already done. I see this especially when I am proposing training courses for professionals. It seems that there is always much interest but the budget wont allow it. I have been in contact with internationally reputable corrosion organisations to get them to ofcially recognise microbial corrosion as one of their permanent short courses but, so far, I have not been successful. However, I wont give up and hope that someday its importance will be recognised to the full extent it deserves hopefully before my retirement. In addition to microbial corrosion issues, Dr. Javaherdashti is given projects relating to high temperature corrosion, corrosion under insulation, failure analysis, materials selection and evaluation of cathodic protection as well as corrosionerosion. His method, he says, will be different for each case but consists of three important stages, namely: the right denition of the problem to develop probable scenarios to explain the case; determination of the required tests and experiments; interpretation of lab results for a possible match between these and the developed scenarios. I am proud to say that I almost always get positive and appreciative feedback from my clients, he reveals. For the future, Dr. Javaherdashti would like to see more serious funding of R&D activities and departments because, if the industry is to advance in terms of nding and applying new solutions to old problems, it is mainly thanks to contributions from research. The driving force comes from training. If professionals do not refresh their knowledge, there will

Dr. Javaherdashti tells us that the subject of microbiologically inuenced corrosion, or MIC, is one that is not well understood, even by professionals. Many cases of failure, especially involving the material SS304, could be attributed to the corrosive impact of bacteria, he says. MIC can start to pose a threat after certain practices including hydrostatic testing and welding. One way to control MIC is by adjusting alloying elements. By applying sophisticated methods and techniques we can implant alloying elements so that, when the material is exposed to an aggressive environment dominated by corrosionrelated bacteria, these elements will be released to control the bacterial activity and keep it under control. As a consultant Dr. Javaherdashti has seen many corrosion cases where simple measures could have prevented a problem. He explains that, in his opinion, only 1% of corrosion problems are related to technicalities the rest are related to human factors. He has developed a managerial system over the years that he calls Corrosion Knowledge Management (CKM) to differentiate it from Corrosion Management (CM). He declares that a CKM approach

SEM of a coupon made of pipeline steel exposed to a mixed culture containing Sulphate reducing bacteria as well as Clostridium after one month.

be no point in searching for new methods and techniques and it will be a sad end to the industry as we know it, he concludes.

When not working on corrosion issues, Dr. Javaherdashti enjoys reading philosophy and history, writing, walking and listening to music.

Images taken from: Reza Javaherdashti, Chikezie Nwaoha, Henry Tan Corrosion and Materials in Oil and Gas Industries, published by CRC Press/Taylor&Francis, USA, 2013.

Microbial mounds formed on stainless steel 316L wall of a tank

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