A 30-year-old diesel tank: fungal-dominated biofilms cause local corrosion of galvanised steel

Abstract The increased use of biodiesel is expected to lead to more microbial corrosion, fouling and fuel degradation issues. In this context, we have analysed the metal, fuel and microbiology of a fouled diesel tank which had been in service for over 30 years. The fuel itself, a B7 biodiesel blend, was not degraded, and—although no free water phase was visible—contained a water content of ~60 ppm. The microbial community was dominated by the fungus Amorphotheca resinae, which formed thick, patchy biofilms on the tank bottom and walls. The tank sheets, composed of galvanised carbon steel, were locally corroded underneath the biofilms, up to a depth of a third of the sheet thickness. On the biofilm-free surfaces, Zn coatings could still be observed. Taken together, A. resinae was shown to thrive in these water-poor conditions, likely enhancing corrosion through the removal of the protective Zn coatings.

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Publication Details

Journal
npj Materials Degradation
Published
2026-01-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00731-2
Primary Topic
Corrosion Behavior and Inhibition
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

A 30-year-old diesel tank: fungal-dominated biofilms cause local corrosion of galvanised steel

Sarah Kirstein, Kira L. Goff, Meina Neumann‐Schaal, M Weise et al.
npj Materials Degradation
Corrosion Behavior and Inhibition
article

A 30-year-old diesel tank: fungal-dominated biofilms cause local corrosion of galvanised steel

Sarah Kirstein, Kira L. Goff, Meina Neumann‐Schaal, M Weise, Jens Günster, Ralph Bäßler, Lisa M. Gieg, Anna A. Gorbushina, Julia Schumacher, Matthias Dimper, Jacqueline Wolf, Ruben Gerrits, Heike Strehlau, Andrea Hofmann, Ozlem Ozcan, Nicole Taylor, René Hesse, Yin Shen, Tatjana Mauch, Ines Feldmann, Andrey Yurkov, Roland Becker, Biwen An Stepec, Ulrich Klein
article en

Abstract

Abstract The increased use of biodiesel is expected to lead to more microbial corrosion, fouling and fuel degradation issues. In this context, we have analysed the metal, fuel and microbiology of a fouled diesel tank which had been in service for over 30 years. The fuel itself, a B7 biodiesel blend, was not degraded, and—although no free water phase was visible—contained a water content of ~60 ppm. The microbial community was dominated by the fungus Amorphotheca resinae, which formed thick, patchy biofilms on the tank bottom and walls. The tank sheets, composed of galvanised carbon steel, were locally corroded underneath the biofilms, up to a depth of a third of the sheet thickness. On the biofilm-free surfaces, Zn coatings could still be observed. Taken together, A. resinae was shown to thrive in these water-poor conditions, likely enhancing corrosion through the removal of the protective Zn coatings.

npj Materials DegradationVol. 10(1)
Federal Institute For Materials Research and Testing (DE), University of Calgary (CA), NORCE Research AS (NO), Freie Universität Berlin (DE), Leibniz Institute DSMZ – German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DE)
Genome Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Openalex Percentile: Top 86%
Corrosion Behavior and Inhibition
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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