(196g) The Introduction of Microbially Induced Corrosion As an Undergraduate Course

Engineering students that take an internship might be exposed to maintenance of equipment and biofilm removal. Those who decide to take on roles in oil & gas industries are constantly exposed to fouling and biofouling issues in the pipelines. The need to understand the biofouling process is on great demand. There are very few courses on biofilms in the undergraduate level that are designed exclusively to engineering students. The purpose of this project is to develop a Biofilm course in the undergraduate level with emphasis on Microbially Induced Corrosion (MIC). A pilot course was developed last Fall as an CME 599 elective course. Students were asked to do a research on both negative and positive side of biofilms. Students were highly interested in biofilms in oil & gas industry to both combat biofouling from pipelines regarding biocorrosion as well as using biofilms in the production of renewable energy. Based on their response to the pilot course, a project was created to gather more resources and produce a literature review in the latest trends of biocorrosion and, more specifically, in MICs. This also includes collaborating with researchers from some of the best biofilm research centers who are invited as guest speakers to the class. Many students in the area have not travelled out of their own state. Considering the current state in which the United States is, it is imperative that students be exposed to qualified and successful professionals from different cultures and countries. In addition to developing a new course and a textbook, biofilm is a current issue that is gaining more importance and the expectation is that this partnership between students and external specialists could provide opportunities that include interest in Graduate School or at least the curiosity to visit other institutions.

Background and relevance

The CME 599 – Introduction to Biofilms at the University of Kentucky – Paducah Extended Campus started as a pilot project to supply the demand of knowledge on biofilms and biofouling in the area. This is a current and common problem in Calvert City, KY where most Chemical companies are located. It has also been present on current editions such as CEP from May 2020. The pilot project will be made an official course that will also be provided to Graduate students. There is an interest from the main campus in Lexington for a course like this because of the studies related to membrane. The class is comprised of Chemical Engineering students that do not intend or have never left this region. The model used to develop this course was based on Aquatic Biofilms from Romani et al., 2016. Some content was also used from the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University, Bozeman, MT.

Results

The importance of an Introduction to Biofilms elective has been commended by the Department. The course was divided into three modules: Characteristics of Biofilms, Biofilms and Pollution, New Technologies using biofilms. The content is displayed in the list below:

• Course Introduction and Overview of the course
• Chapter 1: Introduction to the biofilm concept
  • Types of aquatic biofilms
• Chapter 2: The extracellular polymeric substance
  • Laser microscopy for the study of biofilms
• Chapter 3: Interaction and cell communication
• Chapter 4: Microbial biodiversity in natural biofilms
• Chapter 5: Biofilms and biogeochemical processes
• Chapter 6: Monitoring and assessment of freshwater
• Chapter 7: Biofilms in sewer networks
• Chapter 8: Biofilms to assess the effects of chemicals
• Chapter 9: Biofilm biodegradation potential
• Guest Speaker: Biofilms and biofuels
• Chapter 10: Biofilms in water and air pollution treatment
• Chapter 11: Biofilms for nitrogen removal
• Guest speaker: Biofilms in food industry
• Guest speaker: Microbial fuel cells

Results from Midterm showed an average of 92. An example of a Midterm questions is shown in Figure 1.1 (attached)

Discussion

This class was comprised of Chemical Engineering students that do not intend or have never left this region. Chemical industries in this area focus on iron and steel industry and metallurgy. Many students have not travelled out of their own state. Considering the current state in which the United States is, it is imperative that students be exposed to qualified and successful professionals from different cultures and countries. In addition, biofilm is a current issue that is gaining more importance and the expectation is that this partnership between students and external specialists could provide opportunities that include interest in Graduate School or at least the curiosity to visit other institutions. For instance, one of the students taking this class applied to an REU at Montana State to study Extreme biofilms this summer. Based on the interest of students taking the course and from some feedback from other researchers in biofilms, this course could be improved by providing an emphasis on MIC's. Because there is a lack of communication between microbiologists and engineers, there is a need for engineering students to be taught this class with an emphasis in the industrial application. The goal is that more students are exposed to the topic and be able to understand the basics of biofilm formation. A consensus by several researchers is that if that would happen, the number of cases of biofouling would decrease considerably. This project is ongoing and undergraduate students are focused on gathering literature regarding MIC's. In 2022, the new cycle of undergraduate researchers will focus on Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR).

References

Romani, A. M., Guasch, H., Dolors Balaguer, M. (2016) Aquatic Biofilms: Ecology, Water Quality and Wastewater Treatment. Caister Academic Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-910190-17-3

Rossana, De., Burgin, J., Khanlari, A. (2020) Visual clues give insight ethylene service fouling, CEP – May 2020. Available: https://www.aiche.org/resources/publications/cep/2020/may/visual-clues-give-insight-ethylene-service-fouling?ct

Cunningham, A. B., Lennox, J. E., Rockford, J. (2008) Biofilms the Hyperbook. Available in: https://www.cs.montana.edu/webworks/projects/stevesbook/contents/chapters/chapter002/section002/black/page001.html