The hydrogen permeation investigation of API X56 steel in sea mud

It was found that the corrosion rate of steel in the sea mud with sulfate‐reducing bacteria (SRB) could be as high as 10 times of that in the sea mud without SRB. And the hydrogen permeation reaction would occur when metals were corroded. So it is necessary to investigate the effect of living SRB on hydrogen permeation in the sea mud. Cathodic potential was often added to metals in order to protect them. But hydrogen permeation could be affected by the cathodic potential. So it is also necessary to study the effect of cathodic potential on hydrogen permeation. In this paper, the hydrogen permeation actions of API X56 steel in the sea mud with and without SRB at corrosion and cathodic potential were studied with an improved Devanathan‐Stachurski's electrolytic cell. Experimental results showed that during the growth of SRB, the current density curve of hydrogen permeation was accordant with the growth curve of SRB. But the hydrogen permeation current density of API X56 steel hardly changed in the sterilized sea mud. Compared with the hydrogen permeation current density of API X56 steel in the sterilized sea mud, the hydrogen permeation of API X56 steel in the sea mud could be accelerated by living SRB. Experimental results also showed that the hydrogen permeation current density increased rapidly when the cathodic potential was added to the three‐electrode system of the cathodic cell, and then the hydrogen permeation current density could obtain a stable value slowly. So the cathodic potential added to the cathodic cell could accelerate hydrogen permeation.