Pickling is a metal surface treatment that’s used during various steel making processes to remove impurities such as stains, rust or scale from ferrous metals. A strong acidic solution is applied to the steel (pickling) to remove surface impurities. After pickling, the steel is treated with a light water soluble rust preventative (oil) to slow the rate of rust formation.
The benefits of pickling & oil (P & O) include:
- A cleaner and smoother surface than shot blasting, to provide a better quality paint application and appearance.
- Superior surface application for e-coat and powder coat paint systems.
- Clean surface cosmetic consistency; scale and rust free base metal ready for paint, fabrication, plating, etc.
Nucor Tubular Products now offers P & O tubing out of our Madison, IN location. Our Madison plant produces steel tubing in rounds, squares, rectangles from pickled and oiled steel. After production a light RP is applied to the tubing to further delay the onset of rust.