M-MIC: microfluidic microbiologically influenced corrosion model
AssigneeThe Texas A&M University System
InventorsSusmitha Purnima Kotu, Arul Jayaraman, Mahboobul Sam Mannan, Arum Han
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Abstract
A method for determining the susceptibility of a material to corrosion includes generating, via an inlet in a monitoring device, a laminar flow of material comprising a plurality of microorganisms. The plurality of microorganisms comprises at least one microorganism type. The method also includes forming, inside the monitoring device, in response to the laminar flow, a biofilm comprising at least one microorganism type. In addition, the method includes applying a voltage to the first and second electrodes during the laminar flow.
Claims11
A device for monitoring microbiologically influenced corrosion, the device comprising:
- a microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) apparatus comprising:
- a single electrode disposed directly on a substrate, wherein the substrate comprises glass;
- a top structure disposed over the single electrode on the substrate to form a channel in a negative space between the single electrode on the substrate and the top structure, wherein the single electrode comprises carbon steel, and wherein the channel extends from an inlet to an outlet and is configured to establish a laminar flow therein at a flow rate of from 0.10 mL/h to 2 mL/h;
- a power source coupled to the single electrode, wherein the power source is configured as a potentiostat for applying an alternating current voltage signal to the single electrode and measuring impedance variations to determine corrosion of the single electrode during biofilm formation;
- a pump coupled to the inlet;
- a confocal microscope;
- and
- an incubator configured to control a temperature of the MIC apparatus, wherein the MIC apparatus, the pump, and at least a portion of the confocal microscope are disposed within the incubator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.