Formation of Zn-containing phases as a result of microbial conditioned corrosion

The results of this investigation of technogenic minerals - Zn sulfides and silicates formed as precipitate at the fittings of hydronic heating system - are presented. The morphology, mineralogy and surface chemistry of the matter were studied by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray. The results of this investigation provide clear evidence that hydronic heating systems have been found to support a breeding ground for bacteria associated with microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). In the precipitate Zn minerals are presented by tabular crystals of several generations, spheres, spherical aggregates and biomorphs on the bacterial cells that probably activated fitting corrosion and promoted Zn precipitation as sphalerite, wurtzite and hemimorphite.