Description

This paper describes innovative solutions available to reduce or eliminate the use of hydrofluoric acid in stainless steel pickling processes, a substance monitored closely by European authorities. The Cleanox 352 ecological pickling process was developed to solve the problems of nitrate discharge in wastewater and NOx fume emission in the air. Over the years, the industrial application of this technology was optimized to achieve quality, productivity, and process costs comparable with mixed acids technology