OCEANOLOGICA ACTA- VOL.

15- N1

From biology and corrosion

to biocorrosion

Marine corrosion
Sulphate-reducing bacteria
Steel
Stainless steel

Corrosion marine
Bactries sulfato-rductrices
Acier
Acier inoxydable

Jean-Louis CROLET
Elf Aquitaine, 64018 Pau, France.
Received 17/01/91, in revised form 8/11/91, accepted 5/12/91.

ABSTRACT

The treatment of certain cases of corrosion in living environments involves the

consideration of two quite different disciplines, namely biology and corrosion.
Either one or the other will be preponderant, according to the problem and the circumstances, and the two aspects are not necessarily permanently interdependent.
Since the difficulties inherent in any multidisciplinary research are particularly
pronounced for two such disparate fields, training and information exchange are
of paramount importance. The need to harmonize terminology and concepts signifies, for the biologists, the use of a more chemically precise vocabulary and the
abandonment of certain outdated theories, such as the notion of "cathodic depolarization", which are incompatible with modem electrochemical ideas.
Until now, no specifie mechanism of biological corrosion bas yet been identified,
the phenomenon being simply associated with particular local chemistries of
living corrosive media. The most useful contribution of the biologists would be
accurately to describe this chemistry, in terms that meet the requirements of the
corrosion engineer. In particular, the precise quantification of bacterial metabolisms would be especially appreciated.
While the generic term "biocorrosion" bas become highly topical, it also incorporates past misunderstandings. The less ambitious expression "corrosion in living
media", which conforms more closely to reality, would be certainly more reasonable.

OceanologicaActa,l992.15,1, 87-94.

RSUM

De biologie et corrosion biocorrosion

La rsolution de certains cas de corrosion en milieux vivants ncessite de prendre
en compte deux disciplines tout fait diffrentes, savoir la biologie et la corrosion. Selon les problmes et les circonstances,l'une ou l'autre sera prpondrante,
et les deux aspects ne sont pas ncessairement imbriqus en permanence.
Les difficults inhrentes toute approche pluridisciplinaire sont particulirement
marques dans le cas de domaines aussi spars. La formation et l'information
mutuelle prennent donc ici une importance toute particulire, avec notamment la
ncessit d'harmoniser les concepts et la terminologie. Pour les biologistes, ceci
implique l'utilisation d'un vocabulaire chimique plus prcis, et l'abandon de certaines thories obsoltes, comme la notion de dpolarisation cathodique, totalement incompatible avec l'lectrochimie moderne.
Jusqu' prsent, aucun mcanisme spcifique de corrosion biologique n'a jamais
t identifi, et les phnomnes observs sont simplement dus des modifications
d la chimie locale des milieux corrosifs vivants. La meilleure contribution des

0399-1784/92/01 87 8/$ 2.80/ Gauthier-Villars

87

J.-L. CROLET
biologistes serait alors de dcrire cette chimie avec prcision, et dans les termes
ncessaires au corrosionniste. En particulier, une quantification prcise des mtabolismes bactriens leur serait trs utile.
Mme si l'appellation globale de biocorrosion est devenue de nos jours extrmement populaire, elle vhicule nanmoins beaucoup des incomprhensions du
pass. Le terme, moins ambitieux, de corrosion en milieux vivants, serait certainement plus raisonnable, et en tout cas plus proche de la ralit.

Oceanologica Acta, 1992. 15, 1, 87-94.

INTRODUCTION

workers. There remains today a permanent temptation to

attribute differences in corrosivity observed in living media
to corrosion mechanisms specifie to this environment
(Molica, 1990). ln fact, until now, no specifie mechanism
bas ever been detected, but mere! y an often surprising and
paradoxical chemistry particular to living media.

The weight of history

For almost a century, biologists have been free to choose
whether or not to take an interest in the specifie corrosion
problems encountered in living media. The degree of interest bas varied greatly over the years (Guezennec, 1990),
with certain periods of significant activity, such as is the
case at the present time.

The weight of the problems

Beyond a quite legitimate professional interest, corrosion
studies are not undertaken for pleasure, but out of necessity. The manner in which the problems are perceived is therefore not independent of the solutions available, and the
latter depend in their tum on the industrial and economie
context (the degrees offreedom are not infinite). They also
depend on the dificulties and technologicallimits which
may be encountered.

In contrast, corrosion engineers have never been able to

choose their centres of interest, and must take the corrosive
media as they come. Among the latter, a certain number are
completely artificial, and necessarily sterile (e. g. in the
chemical and nuclear industries). However, many corrosive
environments comprise natural or derived media (e. g. air,
sea water, soils, waters, mining, oil and food industries,
etc.). Except under extreme conditions, these natural environments are thus always living media.

Consequent! y, the perception of "biocorrosion" is totally

different according to whether it must be counteracted via
the resistance of a material or through control of the biology of a medium. In the former case, the contribution of biologists will often be small, being strictly conditioned by the
needs expressed by the corrosion engineers. On the contrary, in the latter case, the role of the biologists will be decisive, although it will often tend to be focused on toxicological aspects far removed from the original corrosion problem (Magot, 1990).

Corrosion engineers have always had to make allowances

for the living nature of the corrosive media, at !east whenever this aspect genuinely interfered with the corrosion phenomena, taking it into account with the means at their disposai, that is, with their "amateur" knowledge, as is inevitable when addressing any unfamiliar discipline.
Moreover, until 1950 at the earliest, the understanding of
corrosion clearly lagged behind that of biology.
Consequently, many old interpretations are intrinsically
"false", i. e. unadapted to present representations of corrosion mechanisms. The old literature is thus extremely polluted, and as the result of a combination of quotations and
bad reading, this pollution bas unfortunately been perpetuated up to the present day. For anyone who is not thoroughly
versed, not only in the science of corrosion, but also in its
history, it is consequently quite difficult to sort the wheat
from the chaff. Furthermore, the understanding of corrosion bas advanced along parallel paths in many different
industries. Thus, knowledge which can be used today to
understand certain types of bacterial corrosion bas not
necessarily been acquired in this explicit area. Such information is then completely inaccessible to modem methods
of computer-assisted bibliography.

Past misunderstandings will be dissipated only through an

extensive exchange of information between the two spiritual families of corrosion engineers and biologists. It is in
this context that the present article aims to illustrate, for the
use of biologists, what are the real needs of the corrosion
engineers, and what they know today. This will be attempted on the basis of two weil known examples, marine corrosion of stainless steels and the corrosion of carbon steels by
sulphate-reducing bacteria.

MARINE CORROSION OF STAINLESS STEELS

In this field, the distinction has long been made between
the "sea", with ali its micro and macro-organisms, and "sea
water", where, after filtration for example, only the microorganisms will remain (Defranoux and Hache, 1974).
Compared to sterile sea water, the basic chemical reference, living sea water increases the risk of pitting corrosion.
As for the sea itself, due to marine fouling, it can introduce

Finally, neither corrosion nor biology are simple sciences,

and this has led to tenacious mysteries that have resisted
investigation over the years. Inexplicable interactions between the living and mineral kingdoms have thus exerted an
almost metaphysical attraction on generations of research

88

FROM BIOLOGY AND CORROSION TO BIOCORROSION

crevice corrosion problems under barnacles, where nothing

of the sort would have occurred in a sterile medium.

The effect of sulphur-containing species on depassivation

in chloride-rich media is well known (Crolet et al., 1977
b). lt is thus normal that the biological generation of H2S
should modify the local severity of marine corrosion as
regards stainless steels (Molica, 1990), in the same manuer as it does for zinc (Mor et al., 1974) or copper (Mor
and Beccaria, 1978).
However, the role of sulphur-containing species bas been
known for only fourteen years and was discovered in a completely different context. Any previous or contemporary
publication was therefore justified in seeking, imagining or
quoting specifie "biocorrosion" mechanisms. Today, the truth
is much more prosaic: biological phenomena modify the
local chemistry of the corrosive medium. While this H2S pollution can markedly affect the amplitude of the corrosion
phenomena, it does not fundamentally change their nature.

Pitting corrosion in sea water

lt is recalled that, in this case, the resistance criterion for
stainless steel is the difference between the free potential
and a critical "pitting" potential (Crolet, 1976 a). The
increase in the free potential in living sea water was recognized at an early stage (Defranoux, 1964), and rapidly
attributed to the presence of a biofilm. The complex life in
the biofm was not analyzed in detail, this not being considered necessary at the time. While biofilms are perhaps better understood today, corrosion specialists still do not require this information. In effect, it is not the film itself, but the
resulting potential which affects the initiation of pits.
Indeed, corrosion engineers systematically limit their attention to the oxidizing power of the environments which they
encounter, and the resulting free potentials. These electrochemical data have the advantage of being directly and easily measurable. Any phenomena situated upstream of these
parameters are often of only a qualitative interest, and are
not really necessary to the solution of the problem.

Summary
In the three examples presented above, independent "biological corrosion" mechanisms are never involved, the
observed effects being simply related to biologically-induced variations in the electrochemistry, geometry, or real
chemistry of the chloride-bearing corrosive medium.
These variations can be analyzed or dissected for each individual case. However, as long as they cannot be accurately
and reproducibly defined, their fine biological specificities
will be of no avail in the daily struggle against corrosion.
The marine corrosion of stainless steels is therefore likely
to remain for a long time a strictly corrosion issue. It will
simply be recalled that the sea and living sea water are different from sterile sea water. Biological phenomena will be
of no further concem, either for the study of the problem or
for the choice of materials.
Conversely, the biological solution of the problem (e. g.
chlorination of seawater) in fact bas a chemical action on
corrosion, by modifying the corrosive medium in the opposite manner. However, the toxicological processes involved
and the possible difficulty of treatment are totally independent of the mechanisms of the corrosion itself.
In general, the situation thus comprises either a corrosion
problem, involving the choice of stainless steels resistant to
marine attack, or a biology problem implying the selection
of suitable sterilization procedures. However, in neither
case is there any real necessity for technical integration of
the two disciplines.
To the extent that such corrosion in living media remains a
matter either essentially of corrosion or primarily of biology, it is perhaps overly ambitions to designate it by the term
"biocorrosion".

1t may even be said that the free potential is not only the sole
characteristic of the biofilm which needs to be known, but
also the quickest and cheapest to measure. In any case, given
the low intrinsic reproducibility of a biofilm, detailed biological characterization would prove to be of no practical service.

Crevice corrosion onder barnacles

Stainless steels show excellent resistance to marine fouling, with the unfortunate exception of bamacles
(Defranoux and Hache, 1974; Crolet et al., 1977 a). In
effect, the latter promote crevice corrosion, even in such
highly alloyed grades as AIS! 316.
This phenomenon is due to the change in the composition
of the unrenewed medium within interstices (Crolet and
Defranoux, 1973). The resistance criterion for stainless
steel is its depassivation pH (Crolet, 1976 a). The criterion
for the severity of a crevice would be its thickness (Crolet
and Defranoux, 1973), at least, if this could be defined and
inspected. However, even under apparently well defined
conditions, as -for example - with a rubber seal, it bas
never been possible to apply any detailed model to crevice
corrosion, let alone for conditions as variable as those associated with a living organism.
In fact, a bamacle is no more than a shelled sucker, and its
specifie severity can be no more readily defmed than that of a
real rubber sucker (Oldfield and Sutton, 1980; Watson and
Postlethwaite, 1990). Indeed, marine fouling deposits are not
reproducible, either from one place to another, or even from
one year to the next in a given locality (Crolet et al., 1977 a).

CORROSION OF CARBON STEELS BY SULPHATEREDUCING BACTERIA

Corrosion in polluted sea water

Generic mechanism
The pollution of ports, the eutrophication of lagoons, and
marine sediments lead to the formation of H2S or bacterial
sulphides, depending on the local pH.

This particular type of bacterial corrosion bas been known

since the beginning of the century (Guezennec, 1990), but

89

J.-L. CROLET

the corrosion data necessary for its understanding have

only .been available for sorne fifteen years. Moreover,
since those data were originally published in a company
journal (Sry and Weber, 1973), and subsequently in the
context of surface physics (Oudar et al., 1974; Marcos et
al., 1975) or of pickling and the corrosion resistance of
resulphurized stainless steels (Crolet et al., 1977 b;
Crolet, 1976 b), their existence and importance completely
escaped the attention of biologists preoccupied by bacterial corrosion.

starting point (Costerton, 1987), thereby preventing the

development of bacterial corrosion ?
Finally, beyond this generic mechanism common to the
whole SRB family, it is clear that certain strains are very
probably more dangerous than others. However, before we
are truly able to interpret the wellknown experimental
effects, such as the difference between SRBs with and
without hydrogenase, it is necessary to eliminate a certain
number of anachronisms which persist in sorne of the literature and which are completely incompatible with present-day physical concepts.

Furthermore, the mystery of corrosion by sulphate-reducing bacteria [SRB (sulphate-reducing bacteria)] was elucidated quite abruptly, with no specifie intention on the part
of the authors concerned (Sry and Weber, 1973; Oudar et
al., 1974; Marcos et al., 1975; Crolet, 1976 b). Indeed,
the basic question suddenly became so trivial that no one
even bothered to discuss it in writing. The surprising and
sudden nature of the solution merely made it a subject of
live!y anecdotes in the lobbies of severa! subsequent conferences. This was evidently insufficient, but fortunately the
omission was rapidly rectified (Salvarezza and Videla,
1980; Salvarezza et al., 1983).

The outmoded ideas to be eliminated

The list which follows is by no means exhaustive, being
limited to the most glaring examples.

The "hole" madel

The Figure presents an excellent mental picture, giving an
intuitive illustration of the effect of SRBs on corrosion.
However, even if this representation tends to be found everywhere, it is in fact an extremely bad model, to be avoided
as a basis for any logical reasoning. In effect, this diagram
mixes phenomena which occur on four different and unrelated scales, viz:
- the macroscopic scale: hole diameter - 1 mm;
-the microscopie scale: SRB dimensions- Jlm (= I0-3
mm);
.

What then is effective! y involved ? Ali SRBs are described by biologists as producing greater or lesser amounts of
C02, organic acids and H2S (Donham et al., 1976). Now,
in acid media, traces of H 2S are an extraordinary catalyser
of ali anodic dissolution kinetics (Sry and Weber, 1973;
Oudar et al., 1974; Marcos et al., 1975; Crolet, 1976 b).
The metal surface beneath a bacterial canker thus constitutes a local anode during galvanic coupling with the surrounding surface. The dissolution rate at this anode is so
much higher than in the adjacent regions that there is no
reason whatsoever to seek any other explanation of the
localized corrosion, be it the cathodic properties of the canker sulphides, or a hypothetical interaction between the
bacterial metabolism and the local cathodic reaction.
Moreover, the latest studies on the more or Jess protective
nature of corrosion deposits today shows that such interference would involve frrst of ali the transport of the metabolites in solution (Crolet, 1988). In effect, it is not indifferent whether a metabolite is injected on the outside of a
deposit, as in laboratory simulations (Daumas et al., 1988)
or beneath the deposit, as occurs in bacterial corrosion
(Crolet, 1988). The SRBs therefore release not only what
they should not, i.e. acid and H2S, but they do so where
they should not, i.e. directly beneath the deposit, in contact
with the metal. Finally, studies on the reaction of corrosion
deposits to an imposed polarization show that the profuse
sulphide deposits encountered in the cankers are not only
very poorly protective, even for large thicknesses, but that
they are also compltely transparent to the accelerating
effects of an externat anodic polarization (Crolet, 1989).

-the atomic scale: H+ ionie diameter- 1 (= 10-1 mm);

and
- the quantum scale: electron diameter - 1o-11 mm.
The physicallaws and concepts are not the same on each
scale, and it is important not to mix them together. In particular, the conduction electrons in a metal can no longer
even be considered as particles, being totally delocalized
waves (Fermi cloud). Thus, in the metallic phase, the differences in potential are infinite! y small and charge transport
is infmitely rapid compared to their equivalents in solution.
Indeed, the real effects of current circulation occur in the
solution, involving interactions with the drop in resistance
or the diffusion of ions (Crolet, 1988). Moreover, it is
always in the solution that the difficulty arises in the
mathematical modelling of galvanic coupling between two
adjacent surfaces (Bardai et al., 1984).
In summary, the Figure is an excellent picture, since it is
simple, but a very bad model, because it is simplistic.

"Cathodic depolarization"
The overali reaction for the corrosion of iron ill neutra!
deaerated water is given by:

Ali in ail, SRB corrosion is no more than a simple pitting

corrosion initiated by local pollution of the metal surface
by bacterial metabolites. The truly fondamental questions
therefore concern rather the mode of initiation and slbilization of these particular pits. For example, what is the
incubation time for the creation of a canker ? How can
simple periodic mechanical scraping of the metal surface
bring the countdown of the initiation process back to the

Fe + 2 H20 -> Fe++ + 2 OH- + H2

(1)

By definition, a corrosion reaction is obviously not an equilibrium phenomenon. lt is even profoundly irreversible, in
so far as the reverse electrodeposition reaction is totally
inaccessible in a conventional corrosive medium.
Nevertheless, probably for historical reasons, many corrosion courses still begin with chemical thermodynamics,

90

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FROM BIOLOGY AND CORROSION TO BIOCORROSION

and with the study of equilibrium at the two types of electrode. It frequently ensues that the fundamental irreversibility of reaction (1) is not fully grasped, and that Le
Chatelier's equilibrium law is abusively applied to it.
However, with the exception of extraneous phenomena
such as the precipitation of corrosion deposits, or the elimination of a possible gas layer isolating the metal from the
liquid, charging the corrosive medium with ferrous ions
will never decrease the corrosion rate of iron, any more
than hydrogen stripping will accelerate it.
From a purely pedagogical standpoint, this psychological
stumbling block can now easily be avoided by introducing
corrosion concepts in terms of the direct physical description of the respective atomic structures of a metal and an
electrolyte (Crolet, 1975).
Historically, the theory of cathodic depolarization was
introduced for the first time by Von Wolzogen Kuhr
(VWK) in 1934 (Von Wolzogen Kuhr and Van der Vlugt,
1934). This theory assumes that, by removing the hydrogen
produced in reaction (1), the SRBs could accelerate the
corrosion of iron, and the 1934 reference continues to be
quoted up to the present day in biology publications,
without the slightest hint of criticism.
However, it should be realized that, at the time when this
theory was put forward, corrosion studies were steeped in a
gigantic historical rror, subsequently designated as the
"Nemstian hiatus" (Bockris and Reddy, 1970, chapter 1;
Defranoux, 1974), which consisted in reasoning in terms
of equilibrium on phenomena which in fact were purely
kinetic. Errors persist to this day conceming the notion of
the intrinsic "nobleness" of materials or of "galvanic
series" of standard potentials (Defranoux, 1974; Shreir,
1976).
Historically, VWK (Von Wolzogen Kuhr and Van der
Vlugt, 1934) was thus perfectly justified in proposing his
explanation of bacterial corrosion by SRBs. In effect,
modem kinetic concepts frrst appeared only in 1925, with
the Evans diagram (Evans,1929), and developed only very
slowly up to the Second World War (Wagner and Traud,
1938). With hindsight (Pourbaix, 1974), it can even be said

that corrosion emerged from the Nemstian hiatus only in

1949, with the creation of the CITCE (French acronym for
"International
Committee
of
Electrochemical
Thermodynamics and Kinetics"), which id 1970 became
the present-day International Society for Electrochemistry.
In comparison with the case at the time of VWK, the thermodynamics of irreversible phenomena today tells us that
polarization is the expression of the "creation of entropy"
(Defranoux, 1974), i.e. of the irreversible nature ofboth
the anodic and cathodic reaction kinetics (Bockris and
Reddy, 1970; Defranoux, 1974).

Fe-> Fe++ + 2 e2 H20 + 2 e- -> 2 OH- + .H2

(2)
(3)

In effect, an electrochemical reaction can have no net flux

at its equilibrium potential. For an electrochemical current
to pass, there must be an electrode overpotential, which
increases with the strength of the current.
Moreover, in media where the reverse reactions are inaccessible, the very notion of overpotential becomes as fictitious as that of equilibrium potential. It would therefore be
more exact to say that, because of the thermal activation of
the kinetics, the slope of a polarization curve expressed, for
example, in mV per decade (in U-log i coordinates), cannot
be equal to zero.
In fact, the relative position of the cathodic polarization
curve defines the "oxidizing power" of the corrosive
medium (Crolet, 1976 a), but this quantitative concept is
not directly related to the qualitative notion of polarization.
Furthermore, it is also known today that equation (3) is.
the overall sum of a series of elementary reactions involving intermediate absorbed species of ali kinds. ln the
steady- state regime, the common rate for this series of
reactions is determined by the slowest step in the chain
(Bockris and Reddy, 1970; Defranoux, 1974). Anything
which happens before this step can thus affect the rate,
whereas anything which occurs after it can have no
retroactive effect (Bockris and Reddy, 1970, chapter 7).
Consequently, neither the polarization of the cathodic
reaction, nor the reaction itself, can be modified by eliminating the final reaction product.
Finally, it is known that the anodic and cathodic reactions
can be superimposed at ali points on both the macro and
even microscopie scale (Bockris anbd Reddy, 1970, chapter 11). The local anodes and cathodes are simply the
result of a localized imbalance between the rates of these
two types of reaction, but in no way represent a strict geographie separation.
Similarly, it is not necessary to imagine mythical and
invisible microcells to exp lain the uniform corrosion phenomenon.
To conclude, any interpretation of a corrosion phenomenon
must be compatible with current knowledge of physics and
electrochemistry. In this field, the excellent book by
Bockris and Reddy is strongly recommended. As regards
our present concerns, the cathodic depolarization theory
must consequent!y be consigned to oblivion, along with ali
other such "false good ideas". It could have provided an
explanation, but in fact it can't (Videla, 1988).

Figure

Schematic illustration of microbial corrosion induced by sulphatereducing bacteria (BSR).

Reprsentation schmatique de la corrosion bactrienne par les bactries
sulfato-rductrices (BSR).

91

J.-L. CROLET

lmproper terminology and unbalanced chemical equations

where a. varies from 0 to 113 depending on the strain of

SRB and the nutrient. In biologicallanguage, equation
(4) represents a production of "C02 and H2S". In corrosion language, it is simply a question of hydrocarbonate
(= bicarbonate) and hydrosulphide.

In chemistry, since Lavoisier and Dalton, unbalanced chemical equations have no great meaning, and any student
forgetting this is likely to encounter serious problems at
examination time. Moreover, it is usual to designate each
chemical species by a precise name. There is even an official international nomenclature, to avoid any error or
deviation in vocabulary. For example, acetic acid is a different species from the acetate ion or the sodium acetate salt.

On the other band, if the SRBs do not perhaps acidify to the

extent assumed up to now, the local precipitation of corrosion product certainly constitutes a powerful acidification
mechanism :

-,

Fe++ + HS- -> FeS + H+

However, in biology, habits are different. In effect, most

experiments take place in a medium which is strongly buffered with regard to the production or consumption of acidity. From this viewpoint, bacterial metabolism is not studied in a closed medium, but in one which is open to the
buffer. This does not facilitate the study of the matter
balances, and necessarily renders the equations more difficult to balance.

If not only the corrosion facets (see paragraph "The

"hole" modeZ") ofbacterial corrosion are revised, but also
the biochemical aspects (see paragraph "lmproper terminology and unbalanced chemical equations "), it is seen
that the canker in the Figure is probably not even impregnated by the direct metabolite, but rather by a modified
version of it. ln fact, the bacterial corrosion canker appears
to be essentially composed of acid corrosion products, sulphidized by the SRBs.

Furthermore, biochemistry and physiology are above all

concerned with the role of radicals in the metabolism. For
instance, experiments will follow the overall outcome of
acetic species, and it is the local buffers, at the input and
output, that will control the real equilibrium between the
acetate and acetic acid forms.

In the presence of sulphides and water, the Fe++ ions fmally lead to the formation of H+ ions, exactly like the cr+++
ions in the pits on stainless steels (Crolet et al., 1977 c).
The analogy between SRB attack and pitting corrosion is
therefore even stronger than was already apparent in the
paragraph "The" hole" modeZ". At this stage, it is clear that
the value of a. in equation (4) plays a decisive role in the
initiation of the acidifying chain reaction (Crolet et al.,
1977 c). lt is equally evident that a. will depend on the
manner in which each strain metabolizes the hydrogen.

In biology, it is thus current usage permanent!y to assimilate the acid, the salt and the ion. In all the biology journals,
this is quite systematic (Gounot, 1990). Habits are even so
frrml y anchored as to escape the vigilance of a journal such
as "Corrosion Science" (Daumas et al., 1988).
Now, it is clear that acidity and pH are fundamental notions
in corrosion, particularly in the presence of weak organic
acids, or of C02 and H2S (Crolet and Bonis, 1984; Crolet
and Bonis, 1990). From this standpoint in particular, acetic
acid and acetate are not merely different, but strictly opposite. If acetic acid acidifies, the acetate represents on the
contrary an alkalinity. In effect, it buffers the medium, and
prevents acidification when H+ ions are added.
Consequent! y, for corrosion applications, all biology publications on bacterial metabolisms must be read with the
greatest care, and all the information must be deciphered in
the light of the prevailing linguistic conventions.

The weil known effect of hydrogenase thus seems to be

due rather to an indirect influence on the initiation of acidification, or on the sensitivity of the metabolic activity to
the ambient pH; but in this regard, direct corrosion experimentation is difficult to envisage. Indeed, the systematic
quantification of the bacterial metabolisms, species by
species, would appear to be a rouch more promising
approach, and could be useful for applications other than
bacterial corrosion.

CONCLUSIONS

This means that any thorough technical integration of the

two disciplines, biology and corrosion, would require prior
harmonization of the language and concepts employed, on
the basis of official international usage.

Corrosion and biology constitute two different disciplines,

with separate developments, but from time to time they
must be combined to solve problems of corrosion in living
environments. Depending on the type of problem and the
circumstances, one or the other will predominate, and a full
permanent
technical integration is not necessary.
Between two such disparate fields, the usual difficulties of
multidisciplinarity are especially pronounced, and the need
for appropriate training and mutual information is particularly acute. However, such exchanges require prior harmonization of the vocabulary, concepts and literature base.
The intended contribution of the present article is to specify the precise chemical nature of the phenomenon, to
encourage the abandonment of the outdated "cathodic
depolarization" theory and to recommend certain sources
of good reading.

The role of hydrogenase

On re-reading the original biological publications on the
SRBs, or the review articles, the points described in the last
paragraph ("The outmoded ideas to be eliminated") are
unfailingly encountered [Pankhania (1988) even quite innocently writes equations (2) and (3) with a double arrow].
If it is attempted a posteriori to balance the equations
which represent the metabolism, the following general
form is obtained :

SRB
S04-- + nutrient -> HS- + HC03- +a. H+

(5)

(4)

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FROM BIOLOGY AND CORROSION TO BIOCORROSION

If corrosion engineers and biologists endeavour to be

honest, they will realize that there are never, in fact, specifie biological corrosion mechanisms, i.e. ones in which
the life processes intervene directly in one or other of the
two basic corrosion reactions. Corrosion in living environments involves exactly the same electrochemical processes as the phenomenon which occurs in sterile media.
What happens is simply that the real local chemistry in the
presence of living organisms is frequently suprising, or
even paradoxical, and often profoundly different from
that in the equivalent sterile medium. Moreover, living
environments are not the only corrosive media in which
the real local chemistry is poorly appreciated. In the chemical industry, certain process reactions can also lead to
paradoxicallocal situations, which are far from being full y
understood (Crolet and Robert, 1990).

In these conditions, the most useful contribution of the biologists is certainly not to carry out "biocorrosion" studies
in the place of the corrosion specialists, but rather to provide the latter with an accurate description of the chemistry
of living corrosive media, in scientifically accurate terms,
based on the parameters normally involved in corrosion. In
the field of microbiology, a precise quantification of the
metabolism of the different species of SRB would be particularly appreciated, and would perhaps lead to a final
explanation of the well known role of the hydrogenase.
In this context, while the term "biocorrosion" bas become
topical and popular, it helps to perpetuate certain unfortunate misnderstandings. The expression "corrosion in
living media", which conforms more closely to reality,
would certainly be more reasonable.

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