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letter 8107
Rusting Process, environmental concern and
suggestions
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To whom this letter may concern,
I have been starting a new business. It consists of rusting Rod
iron. It has taken a great start but I have a question. I use
Muriatic Acid [link is to product info at Amazon] mixed with
water in order for me to get the product rusted. I use 26 oz. to 15
Gallons of water. Will this cause any environmental harm to the city
sewage system? And if so what can I do to correct the problem?
Please give me some suggestions and if you do have a different and
safer way to rust rod Iron, please let me know. Thank you....
Robert D.
- Laredo, TX
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Robert,
Well, normally people want to PROTECT things from rusting but you
just want to rust iron rods. Unusual, eh?
The normal state for iron is .... RUST ... Fe203 and Fe304.
Maybe HCl is the way to go. Certainly it will attack iron or
stainless for that matter. Try some sulphuric, too.
Re 'pouring down the drain', first of all get a pH meter (Fisher
Scientific etc) and some alkali,ie. sodium hydroxide, for example.
Add some in to the liquid. Stir. Get a pH reading of 7 (ie. neutral)
before dumping. ... but don't try to dump alkali into concentrated
acid (sorry, neve EVER put liquid into acid but always vice-versa!)
as you'd get a heck of a hot reaction.
To get a faster oxidizing reaction, scour, sandblast or abrade the
iron's surface. This will increase the surface area and, apart from
removing any scale, will speed up the oxidizing process.
Being a lazy person myself, I'd just use a plastic tank and fill
it with sea water and let nature itself take its course by leaving
the iron to eventually revert to its natural state, RUST.
Hope this helps. Cheers!
Freeman Newton
40 odd years mainly in the corrosion resistant plastics - White Rock,
B.C. Canada, ...just above the U.S. border
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