Microbiologically influenced corrosion of X60 carbon steel in CO2‐saturated oilfield flooding water

The corrosion behavior of X60 carbon steel in CO₂‐saturated oilfield flooding water inoculated with sulfate‐reducing bacteria (SRB) was investigated using polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). With the propagation of SRB in the flooding water, the pH values of flooding water increased quickly in the initial 2 days and remained relatively steady during the later stage. Polarization curves showed that the corrosion current density decreased during the first 10 days due to the protection of corrosion products and SRB‐biofilms, and then increased possibly due to the partial detachment of the corrosion products and the biofilms. EIS analysis also showed that the charge transfer resistance increased initially and then decreased with exposure time. In the beginning of corrosion, the anodic dissolution of X60 steel was dominated by CO₂. After the formation of SRB‐biofilms, part of FeCO₃ corrosion products was converted to incompact FeS precipitates by SRB bio‐mineralization. Thus, the dispersed iron sulfide in SRB‐biofilms and X60 steel base may constitute a galvanic couple, accelerating the localized corrosion of the steel base in the flooding water.