Steel acid pickling

Both air emission control and sludge disposal are extremely important in a steel acid pickling plant.18-20... 

Alkaline permanganate pretreatment of steel for the removal of heat scale and smut prior to acid pickling results in faster descaling and reduced metal attack (see Metal surface treatments Metal treatments). Stainless steel alloys can also be cleaned by alkaline permanganate followed by pickling in nonoxidi2ing acids (260). 

After being cleaned, ware that is to be pickled is immersed successively in one or more tanks of water at 80—95°C and then transferred to the acid pickling solution. The pickling solution of 6—8% sulfuric acid is contained in a stainless steel tank or, alternatively, a lead-lined wooden tank at 60—65°C. 

Acid Pickling This process is widely used for removing rust and millscale from steel, or for removing internal scales from boilers. The objective of the process is the dissolution of iron oxides or hydroxides or hardness scales, but at the same time the iron will also tend to corrode in the acid, with hydrogen... 

In situations such as the acid pickling of steel or the use of steel pipes to handle sour oil streams, the use of suitable inhibitors can give a significant reduction in hydrogen entry. In this context it is important to emphasise that the efficiency of an inhibitor in reducing hydrogen entry is not the same as its efficiency in reducing corrosion. Thus arsenic and antimony compounds... 

Before steel strip or rod can be cold rolled, tinned, galvanised, or enamelled, etc. any scale formed on it by previous heat treatment must be removed. This can be done by mechanical and other special methods, but if a perfectly clean surface is to be produced, acid pickling is preferred, either alone or in conjunction with other pretreatment processes. 

The furnace scales which form on alloy steels are thin, adherent, complex in composition, and more difficult to remove than scale from non-alloy steels. Several mixed acid pickles have been recommended for stainless steel, the type of pickle depending on the composition and thickness of the scale For lightly-scaled stainless steel, a nitric/hydrofluoric acid mixture is suitable, the ratio of the acids being varied to suit the type of scale. An increase in the ratio of hydrofluoric acid to nitric acid increases the whitening effect, but also increases the metal loss. Strict chemical control of this mixture is necessary, since it tends to pit the steel when the acid is nearing exhaustion. For heavy scale, two separate pickles are often used. The first conditions the scale and the second removes it. For example, a sulphuric/hydrochloric mixture is recommended as a scale conditioner on heavily scaled chromium steels, and a nitric/hydrochloric mixture for scale removal. A ferric sulphate/ hydrofluoric acid mixture has advantages over a nitric/hydrofluoric acid mixture in that the loss of metal is reduced and the pickling time is shorter, but strict chemical control of the bath is necessary. 

On ferrous metals immersion deposition in the copper sulphate bath produces non-adherent deposits, and a cyanide copper undercoat is therefore normally used. Where the use of a cyanide strike cannot be tolerated, an electroplated or immersion nickel deposit has been used . Additions of surface-active agents, often preceded by a sulphuric acid pickle containing the same compound, form the basis of recent methods for plating from a copper sulphate bath directly on to steel ". 

Sheet steel is normally prepared for application of enamel by a sequence of operations including thorough degreasing, acid pickling and neutralisation. A nickel dip stage is often included to deposit a thin, porous layer of nickel applied at about 1 g/m especially when conventional groundcoat is not used (see Section 13.7). 

N— compounds used as acid inhibitors include heterocyclic bases, such as pyridine, quinoline and various amines. Carassiti describes the inhibitive action of decylamine and quinoline, as well as phenylthiourea and dibenzyl-sulphoxides for the protection of stainless steels in hydrochloric acid pickling. Hudson e/a/. refer to coal tar base fractions for inhibition in sulphuric and hydrochloric acid solutions. Good results are reported with 0-25 vol. Vo of distilled quinoline bases with addition of 0 05m sodium chloride in 4n sulphuric acid at 93°C. The sodium chloride is acting synergistically, e.g. 0-05m NaCl raises the percentage inhibition given by 0-1% quinoline in 2n H2SO4 from 43 to 79%. Similarly, potassium iodide improves the action of phenylthiourea . 

Certain British Standards, e.g. for galvanising or metal spraying", contain detailed sections on surface preparation. Others are concerned with acid pickling but the chief method of preparing iron and steel for a long-life protective system is by blast cleaning see Section 12.4). 

About 3 billion kilograms of hydrochloric acid are produced each year, mostly as a by-product of the plastics industry. The largest single use of hydrochloric acid is the pickling of steel. The pickling process removes iron(III) oxide (FC2 O3, rust) from the surface of the metal. About a third of all hydrochloric acid is used to produce other chemicals, mostly ionic compounds. Other strong acids have specialized applications in indushy and research laboratories, but none approaches the importance of sulfuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids. 

Acid pickling. Steel products are immersed in heated acid solutions to remove surface scale during pickling operations. This generates wastewater from three sources ... 

Laser cutting, welding, and hot working leave a discolored oxidized layer or scale on the surface of the worked steel. This must be removed in order to perform many of the surface finishing processes. The acid pickling process is used to remove the oxide or scale of metals and corrosion products, in which acids or acid mixtures are used. 

Environmental Management at Steel/Iron Hydrochloric Acid Pickling Plants... 

Sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and other acids, individually or in combination, can be used for acid pickling of metals, although sulfuric and hydrochloric acids are used commonly for cleaning steel. 

In a steel product manufacturing plant involving acid pickling operation, disposal of hazardous metal sludge is the most expensive engineering task, and treatment of pickling liquor and rinse water is the second most expensive engineering task. 

Corrosion of steel during oil well acidizing or acid pickling treatments can be controlled effectively and economically with organic corrosion inhibitors. These additives interact with the steel surface to form an adherent barrier, the nature of which depends on the additives physicochemical properties. Work to date has established that acetylenic alcohols chemisorb and subsequently polymerize on steel surfaces (1-5"). a,/MJnsaturated aldehydes and a-alkenyl-phenones appear to behave in a similar manner (6j7"). The nature of Current address Amoco Production Company, Tulsa, OK... 

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