Here’s a visual (and dramatic) demonstration in our labs of how a hot acid bath will eat away at the steel your company works hard to produce. Use of one of our acid inhibitors (in this case, Activol® 1803) in the pickling process significantly reduces your surface pitting and metal loss to the acid.

Why Pickling Processes Require an Acid Inhibitor

The video below graphically demonstrates what happens to steel in hot HCl, once the scale is removed. (Remember that 90% of the scale is removed early on in the pickling process; the last tank or maybe tank and a half is necessary to remove the edge scale, which is the most difficult scale to remove.)

Therefore, for most of the process, the strip is actually descaled and is being dissolved in the acid in the form of iron chloride. The result is that the strip becomes overpickled, your yield is degraded, and the HCl is being consumed needlessly, thereby increasing your operating costs.

Learn More About Acid Inhibitors

In this video, the metal used is descaled, grade 1011 steel in a bath of hydrochloric acid. The acid is eating away at the steel at a remarkable rate until the Activol® 1803 is added to protect the steel from the pickling process. Learn more about acid inhibitors (in general) and our acid inhibitors (in particular). Looking for more corrosion inhibitors? Try our Steelgard products!

Find the Perfect Acid Inhibitor

If you have additional questions, or need assistance to determine which of our acid inhibitor products will work best for your particular process,  give us a call: 215-324-4000. We also offer special custom formulations if your needs are unique. We have over 79 years of experience and can make your manufacturing process run a little smoother.