A NONINTRUSIVE MONITOR FOR BIOCORROSION/BIOFOULING OF COATED METALS

THE UNDERSTANDING OF MECHANISMS INVOLVED DURING MICROBIOLOGICALLY INDUCED CORROSION (MIC) OF EPOXY COATED, NYLON COATED, AND POLYURETHANE COATED METALS IN COOLING SYSTEMS IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO NAVAL OPERATIONS. OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE ARE THE ROLE OF MECHANISMS BY WHICH MARINE ALGAE AND PROTOZOA CONTRIBUTE TO THE BIOCORROSION PROCESS. THERE ARE CONCERNS THAT ELECTROCHEMICAL MONITORING METHODS, THROUGH WHICH THE MAJORITY OF BIOCORROSION INFORMATION HAS BEEN OBTAINED, CAN PERTURB AND INTERFERE WITH THE MICROBIOLOGICALLY DEVELOPED ECOSYSTEM. THIS PROGRAM PROPOSES TO STUDY THE MIC MECHANISMS OF BIOCORROSION UTILIZING A NONINTRUSIVE SPECTROSCOPIC RAMAN BASED FIBER OPTIC PROBE WITH NEAR INFRARED (NIR) DIODE LASER EXCITATION. FIBER OPTIC RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY WILL ALLOW THE IN SITU MONITORING OF AQUEOUS ENVIRONMENTS BY UTILIZING THE CHARACTERISTIC VIBRATIONAL MODES OF THE REACTIVE SPECIES. THE PHASE 1 OBJECTIVE IS THE DETERMINATION OF THE FEASIBILITY OF USING NIR RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY AS A NONINTRUSIVE MONITOR FOR BIOCORROSION STUDIES. THE PHASE II OBJECTIVE IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE FIBER OPTIC BASED TRANSPORTABLE/PORTABLE SHIPBOARD ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING INSTRUMENT THAT IS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING MECHANISTIC AS WELL AS ANALYTIC INFORMATION ABOUT BIOCORROSION.