Maintenance of Stainless Steel in Corrosive Environments

All Stainless steel will rust if exposed to adverse conditions such as chlorides, marine environments or frequent cleaning with bleach and other corrosive materials. However, proper maintenance procedures can prevent occurrence for damaging rust and correct rusting problems if they do occur.

Maintenance to prevent rusting and corrosion:

When a corrosive environment is present, stainless can be maintained to prevent rusting of the surface. The first and most important procedure is to make sure that the surface is passivated prior to installation of the equipment. This removes any free iron that may have been on the surface due to machining, welding and etc. Remember, stainless is around 70 to 80% iron!! It is not RUST PROOF but just more rust resistance then other metal. After the passivation treatment a rust resistant chromium oxide layer forms on the surface, replacing the iron that was there and protecting the iron that lies underneath.

After installation of the stainless in a chloride or other corrosive environment, procedures must be put in place to regularly clean and re-passivate the surface, since the chlorides will get into the intergranular boundaries of the steel and initiated corrosion. Daily rinsing with clean water is the best way to maintain the surface. This removes any chlorides that the surface may have been exposed to during normal use. If ANY rust or corrosion discoloration is seen, it needs to be removed immediately, using a product like QMH Passi-Plus to remove the corrosion and repassivate the surface.

Maintenance of stainless steel that have rusted severely

If the stainless steel has rusted to the degree where pitting of the surface has occurred, it is likely that the rust will continue to bleed out of the pits onto the surface, and special precautions must be taken to protect the integrity of the steel. It is important to keep the rust removed from the surface, since rust is self-propagating and will spread rapidly within the steel and on the surface. The first process is to remove the rust regularly with the product like QMH Passi-Plus. Constant maintenance is necessary to make sure that the rust is removed as soon as possible after it is evident. Use of non-scratching Scotch Brite ™ can help to remove crusty rust.

QMH Passi-Plus™

Rust-Away™