According to the latest estimates, microbial iron corrosion (MIC) causes billions of euros in damage every year in Germany alone and is a particular threat to the steel foundations of offshore wind turbines. Experts expect global warming to significantly increase the damage. So far, no effective environmentally friendly protection is known.
The interdisciplinary project team "Microbial Fe corrosion and possible corrosion protection measures in the monopile of offshore wind turbines (MiCorFe)", funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection with more than 1,000,000 euros, is attempting to identify the microorganisms specifically involved in this biocorrosion and to develop new, practicable and environmentally friendly strategies for inhibiting them.
The research team is using the FINO3 research platform located 80 km off Sylt for investigations under real conditions. Project leader Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jana Schloesser from Kiel University of Applied Sciences relies on close interdisciplinary cooperation between microbiologists, geochemists, materials scientists and engineers and their different areas of expertise. Development engineer Christian Niepel from project partner Krebs Korrosionsschutz GmbH, which is providing the test specimens, hopes to gain insights for the development of new coating materials and methods. The fourth project partner, Jörss - Blunck - Ordemann GmbH (JBO), is contributing its expertise in the planning and maintenance of wind farms and is responsible for the mathematical simulation of the service life of corroded steels.
Autor(en): spa
