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Hydrochloric acid pickling vs. shot blasting
Q. I am Kumar working in R&D of a group of companies. We use Hot Hydrochloric Acid pickling to remove scales in Hot Rolled steels before taking them for cold rolling. Can this be replaced by shot blasting process, so that handling of hazardous chemicals and high energy spent on heating the chemical can be avoided? What will the pros and cons of such an alternative?
Kumar SubramaniamManufacturer of cold rolled steel coils and sheet metal parts - Chennai, INDIA
December 19, 2008
A. Hi Kumar. I don't have experience in steel mills, but since no one replied, my understanding is that the usual process is mechanical scale breaking followed by pickling . . . so it's already a combination of mechanical and chemical action. Perhaps you are not doing adequate scale breaking, and you can improve it so that you are not wasting acid trying to dissolve scale that could have been made to simply fallen off with the scale breaking.
I don't know of a metallurgical reason why shot blasting wouldn't be an adequate replacement for pickling, I think it's all a matter of what has proved most practical and economical for most users. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Q. Can we replace pickling by shot blasting?
If yes, than what are the drawbacks and advantages of it?
DHARMIK CHHODAVADIYA
- AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT, INDIA
March 3, 2013
A. Hi Dharmik. You have given us no context, like whether you are also speaking of steel mill operations or of plating small parts, but I don't know offhand anything that would preclude shot blasting instead of pickling. If you are speaking of hardened steel, blasting offers the advantage of no hydrogen embrittlement. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
March 5, 2013
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