Abstract

Laboratory studies were conducted to assess the effectiveness of biocorrosion through oxygen diffusion in zinc metal in water environment. The present investigation was undertaken to determine the corrosion rate of zinc metal in water environment with respect to Plank-Nernst Equation modified to monitor and predict the biocorrosion rate through oxygen diffusion which resulted to biofilm formation. The modified developed mathematical model of Plank-Nernst equations to evaluate the corrosion rate of zinc metal upon the influence of oxygen diffusion in a flowing system was given as C_R = 534w / DAt_oe^λ2₁ where l = 0.5 when compared with the normal corrosion rate equation, C_R = 534w / DAt_oe^λ2₁ then the results obtained showed a good match. The biocorrosion rate of zinc metal was tested in salt and fresh water environment and the results obtained showed that corrosion was faster on zinc metal immersed in salt water environment than the fresh water environment; this was attributed to the physicochemical parameters of the salt/fresh water environment.

Key words: Modeling, corrosion, redox-reaction, biocorrosion, metal, water environment.