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Steel Pickling Information

I would like to know about steel pickling, steel process. Can you suggest a good book about steel pickling and steel process?

Maria Gonzalez
- Louisville, Kentucky, USA
2002

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I'm not sure if there are any other uses for the term, but when I hear "steel pickling" it means dipping it in acid for cleaning and etching. Most electroplating processes clean steel with hydrochloric acid right before plating to clean off any rusting before plating and to prepare the surface to accept the plating. I don't know of any books that can help except the Metal Finishing Guidebook. You might be able to find an article on cleaning processes like pickling at the Metal Finishing Magazine website.

Tim Neveau
Rochester Hills, Michigan
2002

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2006

You can check:

The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel [on on Amazonaffil links] and Hot Rolling of Steel.
for some descriptions.

Industrial Pickling of steel surfaces is normally done by immersion of a continuous moving steel plate, sheet or strip inside a series of tanks filled up with acid (Hydrochloric, Sulfuric, Nitric, Fluoric, depending on the kind of steel you want to clean/pickle and depending on how safe do you want the installation to be, as each of the acids produces different safety hazards), then rinsed with water inside another series of tanks, to finally dry them surfaces by means of a hot air blower. Means for steel conveyance at the entry and exit are normally installed.

Juan Medrano
- Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico