NALCOOL 2000 – Automobile Coolant Corrosion Inhibitor

Corrosion and scaling in automobile cooling systems is primarily by chemical reaction of oxidizing agents in the coolant on the metal components. The type and nature of materials present at heat exchanging surfaces, the temperature of the system, pH and type of corrosive elements present in the coolant determine the type of inhibitor package needed.

Conventional water based coolants constantly need additives in the form of mineral inhibitors such as phosphates, nitrites and borates for poplar heat exchange surface metals like aluminium, copper etc along with other parts made from cast iron & mild steel. Absence of suitable inhibitors can cause corrosion, metal cavitation, scaling and cause leaks by destruction on rubber gaskets and head caps. Liquid coolant additives serve ideally as easy to use blends that can be directly mixed with coolant water for easy and quick anti-corrosive action on coils, coolant pump and radiator fins.

Corrosion inhibitors are generally blends of chemicals added to the coolant water to reduce material loss and system damage due to oxidation. The prerequisite is a passivation agent to coat the metal surfaces preventing further corrosion followed by neutralization of oxidizing ions in the coolant thus reducing cavitation. Best corrosion inhibitors need to be fast acting and thermally stable so as to operate at high temperatures and high coolant flow rate. Nitrite, Borate, Silicate and Polyacrylate formulations seem to be the most popular as corrosion and rust inhibitors. This is due to the fact that they are able to remove most oxidizing agents in common coolants while passivating metal surfaces for a long lasting corrosion control. The only requirement is to keep a steady inhibitor concentration in the system.

NALCOOL 2000 manufactured by Nalco Company is a synergized inhibitor blend for metal passivation and sale suppression as a water soluble corrosion inhibitor. It has been designed for all common engine cooling systems and is ideal to protect ferrous metals, copper & its alloys, aluminium etc. as well as rubber gaskets and non-metallic components within the cooling system. NALCOOL 2000 is available in liquid form making it easy to use and apply, fully compatible with water and ethylene glycol based coolants. It does not contain chromates and has been tested internationally to maintain a high degree of heat transfer efficiency & long engine life.

Outstanding features of the product include:

• Protection of all common cooling system metals
• Cavitation protection
• Minimized sludge and scale formation
• Liquid, safe & easy to apply formulation
• Compatible with wide range of coolants and dyes
• Approved by all leading automobile engine manufacturers

NALCOOL 2000 is the perfect corrosion & scale inhibitor for coolants in small auxiliary diesel engines containing aluminium components.

ChemEqual is a vast online specialty chemical database and NALCOOL 2000 as well as equivalent compositions of coolant corrosion inhibitors can be found here from among a wide range of global suppliers.

NALCLEAN 8940 – HCL Based Cleaner For Food Processing Industry

Food Processing, beverage and dairy industry have recently shown a major interest in Clean-in-Place processes due to increased demands from customers in CIP verification and improvements in hygiene standards, product quality shelf life and microbiological consideration. While microbial contamination requires use of sanitizers and disinfectants, pre-processing like pasteurization etc, removal of mineral scaling, food layering and organic depositions can be easily met with cleaning solutions specifically designed for the purpose.

CIP involves the jetting of surfaces or circulations with an appropriate cleaning solution under increased turbulence and flow velocity.  Cleaning solutions so chosen should be active at contaminant removal from any and all types of surfaces without being corrosive to the materials themselves, non toxic and non-residual formulations that can be easily washed off and do not create issues with ultimate quality of food products produced. CIP easily shortens time for cleaning and often cleaning solutions are recoverable. When incorporated in automatic systems, they allow safe and reproducible results that are economic and product friendly.

The simplest form of non-toxic cleaners are basically blends of mineral acids and inhibitors. Acid circulation and spraying is effective in removal of encrusted proteins and mineral deposits on heat treatment surfaces.  Hydrochloric acid seems to be the easy and convenient choice for CIP processes owing to its quick action and high solubility. It can be used directly to clean or as a neutralizing solution after alkaline wash. It enhances draining and drying of pipelines, better bacteriostatic action and removal of mineral deposits like hard water scale, milk stone, beer stone etc. Typical concentrations in solutions range from 30%-70% that require appropriate dilution before application based on industry, equipment, nature of contamination, topography of surfaces to be cleaned and application methods.

NALCLEAN 8940 is a hydrochloric acid based acid cleaner. Manufactured by Nalco Company, it is a blend of Hydrochloric Acid (30%-60%) as a low foaming cleaning liquid that is slightly brown in color. It is a heavy duty formulation for complete removal of difficult mineral and protein base soils, water scales, corrosive depositions and hard deposits from pipelines, pasteurizers, evaporators, vats, tanks, coolers and other stainless steel equipment normally found in food processing plants. NALCLEAN 8940 has slight pungent odor with a low 1.5 pH, high solubility in water and good thermal stability. It is compatible with an array of metal and non-metal surfaces when used in recommended concentrations, cost effective as its effective even at lower concentrations compared to other cleaners, a good neutralizer for surfaces pre-treated with alkaline cleaners and easily adapts to all CIP application and feeding systems.

ChemEqual is a vast online chemical marketplace and B2B search engine where various grades of application specific acid cleaners can be searched.

Nalco PermaTreat PC-191 – RO Membrane Antiscalant

Reverse osmosis is a water purification technique developed in 1950’s by US government to remove dissolved solids in saline and brackish water. The principle involves application of waterline pressure over untreated water against a semipermeable membrane. The separated H₂O molecules pass through the membrane into a reservoir while contaminants remain on the other side. Over the years, RO has been extensively used for treating industrial feed water. While the primary method for demineralization is Ion exchange method, RO systems are adopted when large volumes of water need to be treated economically.

The life, efficiency & productivity of an RO Membrane water treatment system is greatly reduced due to a phenomenon called RO Membrane Scaling. During RO system operation, as the water moves through the membrane, the concentration of dissolved and suspended solids keep on increasing at the boundary layer. When the concentration exceeds saturation value, there occurs a tendency of deposition and crystallization on the membrane surface. Smaller depositions act as nuclei for more salt accumulation thus decreasing effectiveness of membranes and invoking frequent cleaning of the system. Scalants mostly include low soluble salts of calcium, barium, strontium as carbonates and sulfates and fine reactive silica crystals. Their low solubility makes them difficult to remove during cleanup processes.

Scaling can be minimized by pretreatment processes like ion exchange, chemical treatment like lime softening etc. but these incur higher costs.  In some cases, acidification is practiced to remove insoluble carbonates and sulfates and most commonly Hydrochloric Acid is used. Recently, the popular choice of RO scale treatment is the use of Antiscalants. Reverse Osmosis Antiscalants are specialized chemical formulations added to the untreated feed water to increase the solubility of sparingly soluble salts that cause scaling. They mostly comprise of acrylates and phosphonates that greatly inhibit carbonate and sulfate precipitation. Since they offer an online scale protection advantage, RO Antiscalants have become an essential part of operations involving reverse osmosis systems. Such systems avoid mineral scaling and need less frequent cleaning, show greater efficacy with high permeate quality, decreased water and energy consumptions and longer operation life.

Nalco PermaTreat PC-191 is an RO Membrane Antiscalant manufactured by Nalco Company. It is a highly effective scale inhibitor engineered specifically for RO systems. It is suitable for treating brackish, highly saline and effluent feed water in RO filtration, Nanofiltration and Ultrafiltration systems. It is compatible with all types of RO membranes and can extend membrane life thus cutting down operating and maintenance costs.

Nalco PermaTreat PC-191’s characteristics can be ideally summarized as:

• Effective against scales of calcium, strontium, barium salts of carbonate, sulfate and oxide origin
• Zero scaling in system upto 2.6 LSI
• Cleans by dispersing particulate fouling
• Effective even at low feed water pH upto 5.9
• Can be fed directly or as diluted solution in system
• Prevents formation of Iron scales

Nalco PermaTreat PC-191 helps resolve all scaling issues in RO Filtration systems and at all instances, the costs incurred are lower than would be for Ion exchange hardness removal methods.

Aquaculture Disinfectants: Types and Uses

Disinfection is a common disease management tool for aquaculture sector. It can be both a routine bio-security practice to prevent specific diseases or a routine sanitation process to reduce overall occurrence of diseases that may lower farm productivity. The nature and mode of disinfection greatly varies with the specific reason that leads to disinfection practices. The most commonly practiced approach is chemical treatment in specified doses and for sufficient retention periods to destroy pathogenic organisms that would otherwise access the water systems repetitively.

In aquaculture systems, the threat of cross contamination is prevalent between fauna in the same tank as well as between water holdings, both in fish and crustacean farming. In addition, use of disinfectants is not possible in open systems owing to environmental impacts of chemicals in natural waters and in case of seawater; there is risk of residual oxidant by-products due to chemical reactions with salts in water. Thus disinfectants can be applied safely and most conveniently only to hatcheries and incubation tanks.

Since most aquatic species are highly sensitive to toxic chemicals and the disposal of such waters threatens to contaminate natural water bodies, it is highly needed that a “safe” product be used for disinfection. The term “safe” implies to toxicity tolerance by farm as well as wild aquatic organisms. Thus only a few chemicals can truly adhere to the properties of ideal aquaculture disinfectants in real practice. Some disinfectants are effective against a large range of microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. In addition some chemicals are selective biocides to certain strains of exotic eutrophic microalgae. While some disinfectants can work on a short term before the microbes grow resistant to them. Thus the choice of disinfectant and methods of disinfection should be based on the spectrum and ease of application as well.

Requisites of an ideal Disinfectant are summarized herein:

• Should have a wide spectrum antimicrobial activity
• Should not be irritating to aquatic organisms or humans
• Should have minimal toxicity to non target organisms
• Should have high penetrability
• Should be active in presence of Pus and Necrotic Tissue
• Should be non-interfering with normal immunity of fishes
• Should be cost friendly
• Should be non corrosive and non staining
• Should be highly stable
• Should be biodegradable with nil/minimum bioaccumulation potential

Disinfectants can be classified based on their mode of activity as:

1. Oxidizing Agents
2. Reducing agents
3. Detergents

Oxidizing Disinfectants can again be of two types:

1. Those that oxidize without releasing oxygen, most common being Halogen bleachers and Potassium Permanganate and Peracetic Acid
2. Those that oxidize by release of nascent oxygen i.e. Peroxides

They are mostly used to control phytoplankton, pathogens and bottom soil oxidants. Most oxidizing agents are irritant to skin and eyes in high concentrations and except for chlorine, most don’t have long bioaccumulation potential thus non contaminants to food.

Reducing agents consist of organic aldehydes like Formaldehyde and Glutaraldehyde that are popular general disinfectants used as germicide, fungicide or as preservatives in industries. Their main mode of action is by formation of covalent bonds and disruption of functional groups in cellular proteins. They are thus target specific and can be easily applied in selective removal of microbial contaminants. Aldehyde disinfectants are non-irritant, readily biodegradable and do not possess bioaccumulation risks.

Detergents or popularly referred to as Cationic detergents are Quaternary ammonium compounds (Benzalkonium Chloride) that are used I hatcheries to eradicate aquatic insect larvae and nematodes. They are active in disruption of cell membrane and destruction of cytoplasm and cell nuclear material. They are highly active against Gram negative bacteria. There are no known records of reactive products not degrading or chances of bioaccumulation in environment as of yet.

Irrespective of the mode of application and action most aquaculture disinfectants listed above seem to be highly effective in their respective treatment domain but choice of the same lies totally on the users end needs of disinfection and the type of pathogen to be controlled.

ChemEqual is a vast online chemical B2B marketplace and various grades and compositions of specific Aquaculture Disinfectants and Biocides can be searched here.

Metal Pickling: Acids and Inhibitors

Hot rolling processes associated with various metal industries often leave behind inorganic oxide residues on treated metal surfaces. Exposure to moisture also results in rusting of Ferro-Nickel based metal parts. These oxides interfere with further cold processing like polishing, electroplating, painting or enameling. Rust and scale formation is a thin layer of metal oxide on the surface that is mostly removed by chemical cleaning also called “Pickling”.

Pickling is carried out on oxide scaled surfaces of metals with alloy content less than 6%. The ideal pickling solution, known as Pickle Liquor is a 3%-10% solution of Hydrochloric acid (HCl) or Sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄). Hydrochloric acid is chosen over Sulfuric acid because of faster pickling action all the while minimizing base metal loss. It restricts formation of smut and greatly decreases the risk of excessive attacking.  It is also economic as heating expenses needed for sulfuric acid are spared due to possibility of lower temperature pickling.

Metal pickling is essential for thoroughly removing scales and inorganic surface contaminants before applying finishing layers like paint, galvanizing and polishing. The result of the process depends on the type, strength and temperature of the pickling liquor. In order to be economical, it is chosen as a continuous cleaning process by mode of manual/mechanized spraying or dipping in large acid vats. For small scale industries like jewellery making and research laboratories, extensive use of pickle pots is observed. Nevertheless, the corrosive action of diluted pickle acids cannot be ignored. In most cases, there is a significant loss of base metal during cleaning operations. For this reason, Acid Inhibitors are used with the acid solution to reduce base metal corrosion.

Inhibitors are natural or synthetic organic compounds added to acid solutions to reduce metal surface corrosion. They slow or stop the chemical action of acid on the base metal surface.

Inhibitors are essential to:

• Reduce base metal loss
• Protect the surface from pitting attack by excessive pickling or from poor surface condition quality
• Reduce fumes resulting from excessive acid-metal reactions
• Help economize acid consumption without reducing descaling efficacy
• Control the rate of pickling

Rodine Acid Inhibitor is a series of acid corrosion inhibitors designed to serve worldwide standards for acid inhibitors. They are specially synthesized to provide protection to base metals from acidic corrosion effectively. Rodine Acid Inhibitor products inhibit the corrosion of metals against acids like Hydrochloric, Hydrofluoric, Sulfuric, Phosphoric, Sulfamic, and organic acids blends. The most common products underlined in this range include Rodine 213, Rodine 213 Spl, Rodine 31A, Rodine 103, Rodine 103 NF, Rodine 92B, Rodine 130, and many more.

The process is limited to oxides and inorganic scales and contamination by soils, oil, grease, soaps and lubricants need additional processes with the use of Degreasing chemicals. Other limitations of acid pickling include difficulty to handle products because of their corrosive nature, the issue of hydrogen embrittlement popularly associated with some alloy and high-carbon steels, occupational hazards as the reactions produce toxic fumes in the factory shed. To obtain desired descaling, without endangering metal surfaces, acid concentrations and solution temperature need to be monitored quite strictly. Sludge is the ultimate waste product of acid pickling. It contains acid rinse water, metallic dissolved and suspended salts, waste spent acid etc. EPA considers it Hazardous waste and recommends proper treatment before disposal mostly in the form of Lime neutralization.