TY - CONF A1 - Koerdt, Andrea T1 - Simulating Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) at Seabed Environment in Monopile N2 - Ensuring the safety of offshore wind structures (OWS) is critical to guaranteeing their long-term performance and supporting reliable green energy supply. Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) presents a significant challenge, particularly for monopiles in seabed environments. This study investigates the behavior of microorganisms and their impact on the corrosion process of carbon steel within monopiles. To simulate MIC at the sediment/water interface, an in-house experimental column was developed and inoculated with sediment and water samples from the North Sea. The system was operated under varying flow rates to replicate seabed movement conditions. Multiple molecular microbiological methods, surface analysis techniques, and other approaches were employed to assess the effects of different treatments. This study provides insights into MIC mechanisms in offshore environments and supports the development of strategies to monitor MIC in OWS infrastructure T2 - ISMOS10 CY - Nashville, TN, USA DA - 11.08.2025 KW - MIC KW - Environmental Simulation KW - Field testing KW - Marine Environment PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64298 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Koerdt, Andrea T1 - Technical challenges for the investigation of Microbiologically influenced corrosion under laboratory conditions across several sectors N2 - Microbiologically influenced corrosion MIC occurs in different sectors, under various conditions and can significantly contribute to material degradation. The most convincing effect can be observed with sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB). There are many stakeholders who do not need to be convinced of this as there is ample scientific evidence clearly showing that SRBs corrode metal. However, many believe this is solely due to the produced H2S. Fewer people are aware that SRBs also have other mechanisms that can lead to corrosion, such as electrical MIC on metal (direct electron uptake from the metal used as electron donor). Despite this, many sectors or industries remain skeptical in several areas. When considering other classes or species, the skepticism increases even more. The reason is simple: microbiologist cannot consistently prove MIC on laboratory scale for all corrosive microorganisms. In contrast to materials sciences, where experiments can be narrowed down to a limited number of parameters, microbiology is too complex to simulate simply in the lab. Several factors are mandatory for the growth of microorganisms, consequently increasing the number of parameters. Even when making the system more complex, there are still unknown species in the field, whose growth conditions are not yet understood. We know via 16S rRNA analysis that the species is present, but that is all we know. If these samples are enriched in the lab, many species will not survive and their impact on the whole community cannot be investigated. Therefore, lab tests related to MIC works only for a certain number of microorganisms. This means the key-result for other disciplines are missing, and important numbers for calculating the lifespan of a material can only be provided with limited accuracy. This is neither satisfying nor useful for engineers, material scientist or similar professionals, and it is understandable. However, MIC occurs, and we need to address it in our infrastructure or other important areas. With this presentation, I aim to show the currently available techniques for testing on a laboratory scale. I will use SRBs and methanogenic archaea as examples to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each method and point out where improvements are needed. The examples will be cross-sectoral and applicable to other sectors as well. This talk will highlight the currently existing challenges of testing MIC in the laboratory and may help generate creative solutions. T2 - MICxUS 2025 CY - Nicosia, Cyprus DA - 21.01.2025 KW - MIC KW - Biocorrosion KW - Laboratory testing KW - Interdisziplinarity KW - Microorganisms PY - 2025 UR - https://www.unic.ac.cy/ehresearch/micxus2025/#tab-98dc74f32bf3b8f95bd AN - OPUS4-63725 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Koerdt, Andrea T1 - Exploring Microbial Impacts on Hydrogen Storage: - A Novel System for Corrosion Testing of Gas- and Material Degradation N2 - Underground hydrogen storage (UHS) is a strategic step towards implementing the hydrogen economy. Achieving the required infrastructure by 2050 necessitates advancements in hydrogen-dedicated assets and the evaluation of existing infrastructure. The unique conditions in UHS require an experimental set-up to simulate UHS operating conditions, which allows to assess the readiness of current storage and transmission for hydrogen, and develop new technologies for material-resistance, operational-simulations, and risk-assessments. In addition to the physical/chemical conditions in UHS (e.g., salinity, hydrogen concentration, operating temperature/-pressure, water content), biological threats must also be considered. Therefore, we present here a high-pressure-set-up, developed for research/-industrial testing purposes. Currently, UHS-experiments for microbiologically-influenced-corrosion (MIC) are performed in standard autoclaves with relatively high volumes/pressures; they were primarily designed for material-specific investigations. While these methods provided some useful information for biological questions, they had significant limitations. The novel UHS-simulation-set-up presented here is designed with a controlled independently temperature and pressure. Field samples can be used to mimic geology, water chemistry, construction materials, and microbiological conditions. Most significant advantages of the set-up are: 1. It allows for liquid addition during the test, enabling the study of biocides or the evaluation of operating setups. 2. It permits liquid/-gas sampling during the test, allowing for more efficient monitoring of testing conditions and a better understanding of the process over time. Additionally, a low-release function is added, which is particularly important for studying MIC to avoid negative side effects, on the material (e.g. polymers/corrosion product-layer/cells itself) which might occur due to the fast pressure release T2 - ISMOS10 CY - Nashville, TN, USA DA - 11.08.2025 KW - MIC KW - MISTRAL KW - Corrosion KW - Environmental simulation KW - Metall KW - Polymer PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64297 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -