letter 17279

Pickling of carbon steel pipe  

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Please outline procedures for pickling, passivation and neutralization of carbon steel
pipes for hydraulic systems. Particularly interested in procedures which may be used at
job site. Please provide outline of advantages and disadvantages between recirculation
pickling and immersion pickling. Thank you.

Wayne Raymond Mader

- Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

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How big is your piping system? In most industrial applications (hundreds to thousands of
gallons), pre-operational cleaning specifications for carbon steel pipe call for a pre-
cleaning with a caustic degreaser for oils followed by an acid recirculation for the rust.
Fairly high flow rates are usually specified in order to create some velocity as the
solution travels the pipe. This creates a flushing action.

I have heard that some companies also have their workers hit the pipe with a heavy
sledge hammer all along the run of the pipe in order to break loose any particles which
might still be lightly adhered to the pipe walls. It seems to me a sewerjet/ line mole would
do just as good.

I like the idea of a fill/soak application but it must be followed by some sort of agitation
in order to break loose all particles of rust as well as flush out any debris. In the industrial
market, you may find anything from sand to cigarette butts, paper clips and metal
shavings. Some of the "junk" can be heavy and therefore require some pressure to move
it along the pipe to the end.

My favorite chemical approach is citric acid blends. Sure, they are slower but they are so
safe. Heat and time really help the performance of citric acid.

Titration would track the iron levels in the acid to know if more acid or recirculation time
is needed. After the cleaning, the pipe is thoroughly rinsed, sometimes with a neutralizer
to bring the pH above 8. Then, the pipe is filled with fresh hydraulic fluid.

This hydraulic fluid is circulated through a portable filtration system, first to catch any
residual water and second to trap various levels of particulate. It may start at 25 micron,
then work down to 10 micron, 5 micron and sometimes as low as 1 micron absolute. The
hydraulic oil is tested with a particle counter to make sure the system is free of
particulates.

I know this is a bit vague but most engineering companies have their own specifications.
They haven't changed much in decades.

Good luck on your project.

Todd Turner
- Monroe, LA

November 30, 2008

Hi
In my company we are making new descaling system with 240 bars pressure. We got
pipes with rust and should we make pickling before use of these pipes. Please give some
experience for pickling and flushing of new pipe systems.
Please ask if you need additional information to help me
Thanks in advance

Kostov Ljupco
- Skopje, Macedonia

December 26, 2008

It is a must to pickle carbon steel tubes before either painting or any further plating to get
better and smooth surface finish.
Simply dipping the pipe in a FRP tank with HCL and then rinsing it with fresh water can
do some good.

Dhiren Saini
- Bangalore, India

June 30, 2009

hai
we have power system with stainless steel we want to do pickling for ss pipes so what
chemical you suggest to do pickling and also tell me the methods

kg saravanan
chief executive - chennai ,india
June 30, 2009

Hi, Cousin KG. People have spent their whole careers trying to develop optimum
methodologies for this. Unfortunately, explaining those methods would take many pages,
and I don't think that the people who know those methods will do that for us. Although
anyone is welcome to try to answer you, my only suggestion at this point is to consider
retaining a service to do it on-site, and watch and learn so that you can decide whether it
is safe and practical for you to do it yourself next time. Good luck and sorry I don't have
a better answer!

Regards,

Second method

ivu (Mechanical) 10 Jan 01 5:34

Dear all,

I'm looking for a chemical cleaning procedure for carbon steel pipes. The aim is cleaning
some new lines upstream a recip compressor.
I will really appreciate any information (guidelines, acid/neutralizing solutions,...).
Thanks in advance
IVU

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jonralph (Petroleum) 11 Jan 01 6:03
I work for a company involved in Pre-Commissioning of plant.  We do chemical
cleaning, both the normal Acid pickling and the more modern one step and neutral
processes.  I can email or fax you some guidelines.  Whats your intention?  Guidelines
for review of a subcontractor, information for a bid or are you intending to do this
yourself?

Email me at jralph@pslg.com
ivu (Mechanical) 11 Jan 01 7:54
As this is a small conventional pickling job to be performed, we would like to do it
ourselves.
I'm interested in as much information as possible: fluid summary, solution compositions,
soaking times, fluid velocities for each stage, filtering system...
As it is available onsite, we are thinking on using citric acid.

butelja (Mechanical) 11 Jan 01 8:25

We have used citric acid for cleaning pipes and storage tanks (liquid service) with
excellent results.  I'm not sure what the concentration was.  One thing to be careful of is
that the cleaned steel is activated and more succeptable to corrosion imediately after
cleaning.  If ppm levels of iron could contaminate your product, then this could be a
problem.
imtiyaz (Mechanical) 13 Jan 01 6:46
hello ivu!!
i am not a expert in this field but i could get something for you from a friend. hope you
will find it useful.
precaution is metal other than steel should not come in contact with pickling solution and
all valves gaskets, CV etc should be dropped before chemical cleaning.
the procedure is the method of cleaning & passivation of internal surface of CS piping
based on use of inhibited HCL acid followed by passivation with sodium
hexametaphosphate, prior to taking in service.

seq. of operation;
a0 flushing with water to remove dirt etc.
b0 degreasing
c0 inhibited acid circulation
d0 neutralisation with soda ash / caustic soda.
e0 rinsing
f0 passivation
g0 drying

Concentration of HCL should be 5-10% by wt. HCl (on 100% purity basis) and Rodine-
213 special (corrossion inhibitor)should be added in acid solution in prop of i lit. Rodine
213 special to 100 lit 30-33% HCl. however exact conc. and acid solution to be decided
on visual inspection of CS piping.

there are other steps to follow. if i am in right track for your question please reply. so
that i can send down the balance part of the procedure.
ivu (Mechanical) 16 Jan 01 2:55
Imtiyaz,
This is the information I needed, and matches with the procedures I'm using as a basis.
At this moment I'm checking the Citric acid concentration needed to give a solution
similar to this 7-10% HCl you are talking about.
In any case I'd really appreciate any further information you could send to me:
ivu@bilbao.com
thank you very much indeed. IVU

imtiyaz (Mechanical) 18 Jan 01 5:37

hello ivu!
it's great to know that my answer(information) to your query on eng-tips.com corrossion
forum was of some help to you. i have emailed you the complete detail and posting it
here for our other forum friends. do let me know about your sucess with citric acid.

now starting from where i left;

chemicals required are;
1) caustic soda-rayon grade or technical grade.
2) HCL acid commercial/technical grade
3) corrosion inhibitor (in india rodine-213 is generaly used)
4) glassy sodium meta-phosphate (sodium hexametaphosphate.
5) soda ash technical grade
6) potable water
NOTE :test of inhibitor efficiency and effectiveness of the solution in removing mill
scale.
cleaning procedure:
1) general precaution & testing of loop to be done. flushing is recommended.
2) filling & circulation of sodium hydroxide sol for 2 hrs (minimum).
3) temp. of sod. hydoxide sol. during circulation between 65-75 deg Centigrade.
4) concentration of sod hydroxide should be 50 gm/lit(on 100% purity basis)
5) drain sod hydroxide sol. clean with water till pH of water at inlet & outlet ends are
same.
6) fill and circulate inbited HCL solution for 6 hrs (minimum).
7) temp. of the sol between 50-60 deg C.
8) Concentration of HCL should be 5-10% by wt. HCl (on 100% purity basis) and
Rodine-213 special (corrossion inhibitor)should be added in acid solution in prop of i lit.
Rodine 213 special to 100 lit 30-33% HCl. however exact conc. and acid solution to be
decided on visual inspection of CS piping.
9)drain the sol. fill with 1-2% sol. of soda ash or caustic soda and circulate for 1 hr at 40-
50 deg C.
10) drain the neutralising sol. clear with water till pH of water at inlet & outlet is same.
11)fill and circulate sod. hexametaphosphate sol for 2-4 hrs.
12) conc of the sod. hexametaphosphate sol should be 2-3% by wt (on 67% P2O5 basis)
with pH adjusted to 5.50-6.50. and temp while circulating 70-75 deg C.
note: to prevent reoxidation, passive sol to be introduced immediately.
13) drain passive sol (remember)without flushing with water.
14) dry the circuit with dry air.
NOTE: #these operation in any loop when commenced must be completed without
interruptions.
#also whenever acid is added the corrosion inhibitor should be added first.
#acid strength, total iron and ferric iron to be determined every hour during operation.
#during passivation presence of phosphate to be checked periodically.

best of luck and take care.

imtiyaz

john52 (Chemical) 6 Mar 01 7:33

DEAR SIR.
I CAN GIVE YOU ANY INFORMATION YOU WANT FOR CHEMICAL
CLEANING PROJECTS.
OUR COMPANY IS DEALING SINCE MANY YEARS BEFORE IN THIS
BUSINESS.
OUR FIELD IS THE MARINE,OILFIELD AND POWER STATIONS INDUSTRY.
OUR TERRITORY IS ALMOST WORLD WIDE.WE PROVIDE EITHER FULL
PACKAGE CONTRACT SERVICES OR SIMPLY CONSULTANCE SERVICES.
IN CASE YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE CONTACT US.
RGRDS
JOHN PITSILOS/ DIRECTOR
jpc@jpchemicalnet.gr
www.jpchemicalnet.gr
said_saz (Visitor) 7 Jul 01 10:49
hi all,,

  that discussion was very useful,,,

  i would ask a basic question ,,,

 why we need to clean carbon steel new pipes ..? is it because of some particles left after
manufacturing of pipes ?
 
is this needed for seamless pipes ?

is there another alternative of chem cleaning ? like sandblasting

Third method
Yes, you can use citric acid to clean and passivate carbon steel. After cleaning the
surface with an alkaline cleaner, you can use citric acid to remove the iron oxides.
There are pH adjustments required to perform these cleaning. After the citric
cleaning phase, another pH adjustment is required prior to adding an oxidizer to
form a protective magnetite film (passivation) on the surface.

After passivation, the system is dried under nitrogen purge. Passivation film is
stable if moisture is kept out of the system. This process was designed by Pfizer
many years ago and called Citrosolv process.