We are coming up on another rust season, and who am I kidding, it’s always rust season. But it begs the question, why does it seem like there is a rust season. It has to do with the ingredients that contribute to corrosion. Corrosion is a chemical process, and the recipe for corrosion is accelerated with heat, time, oxidation, and humidity, all present in those sweltering summer months.
It is no secret that rust causes rejections and failures of manufactured metal parts. The proper use of rust preventatives or inhibitors is critical to keep your parts corrosion free. The application and use of rust inhibitors can help reduce the cost of corrosion during the manufacturing process. A study by the "International Measures of Prevention, Application, and Economics of Corrosion Technology (IMPACT)” estimates the global cost of corrosion to be $2.5 trillion (US), equivalent to roughly 3.4 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (2016). There is a need for good cost-effective solutions.
Corrosion prevention can be engineered by understanding the underlining physical-chemical causes such as anodic, cathodic, anti-oxidant, or galvanic attack. A rust inhibitor is a chemical compound that decreases the corrosion rate of metal alloys. In the manufacturing process, rust inhibitors can be classified as “in-process rust inhibitors” or “long-term rust preventatives.” In-process rust inhibitors are designed to prevent corrosion during and between the manufacturing process, while long-term preventatives provide a shelf life of 30 days to 1 year or longer.
Chemtrol manufactures aqueous in-process inhibitors as well as long-term preventives. Our rust inhibitors/preventatives form a thin film or passivation layer on the surface of the metal that hinders the access of the environment to the metal surface. This thin film layer retards either oxidation or reduction of the metal. The effectiveness of a rust inhibitor depends on many factors, including but not limited to concentration, environment, and time.
Before and After of a part treated with rust inhibitors
Chemtrol rust preventatives (RP) are formulated to match the goal of the customer. The benefits of our aqueous preventatives include improved environmental disposal, cost effectiveness, high performance, and improved worker safety. Many traditional long-term preventatives contain oil, solvents, or risky chemicals. Solvents can pollute the air or create poor working conditions; risky chemicals can cause worker safety concerns, and increase disposal costs and or fines. Many long-term preventatives contain oil and solvents.
Chemtrol rust preventatives protect a wide variety of parts in many applications
Ever rising oil prices and escalating environmental costs associated with disposing of oil make using a water-based preventative extremely attractive. Chemtrol’s water-based preventatives are now available for up to 1-year shelf life. A unique advantage of some Chemtrol in-process inhibitors is the ability to coat or paint over the inhibitor without affecting adhesion. This saves you the cleaning step, which in turn, saves time and money. Our corrosion preventatives can be dipped, sprayed, or used directly in a vibratory process. .
Mark Slaska
Technical Director