What Are the Benefits of Steel Passivation?
Steel passivation is a crucial step in the development of tools used in the pharmaceutical and medical industries. It’s important that product contamination is prevented, and these industries rely on the frequent use of stainless steel throughout their processes due to its resistance to chemical reaction and easy cleaning, among other things.
In this blog, learn why the passivation of stainless steel is important and the four main benefits of this process.
What Is Steel Passivation?
The stainless-steel passivation process removes free iron contamination left behind on the surface of the steel object, and this is done after machining and fabrication. The iron contaminations are potential areas of corrosion, which would result in premature corrosion and deterioration of the object if this contamination is not removed.
During the passivation process, the object is submerged in nitric acid or citric acid to remove this contamination. This chemical reaction forms a thin, invisible oxide film on the surface of the stainless-steel object which protects it from corrosion.
What Are the Benefits of Stainless-Steel Passivation?
1. Provides corrosion resistance
The first benefit of steel passivation is that it renews and reinforces the chromium oxide layer – this is what protects the object from corrosion. Not only is the surface iron a corrosion risk, but the stainless-steel alloy itself is one too. Over time the metallic ions migrate through the voids between the crystals within the metal. Due to the constant movement, the regular passivation of stainless steel may be necessary to remove the iron atoms that have made their way to the passive layer of the object.
2. Removes surface contamination
As previously mentioned, one of the main reasons why stainless-steel tools are used in the pharmaceutical industry is because they’re easy to clean – but the cleaning process and any chemicals used in medical & sterile environments can create hazards impacting the tool’s performance going forward.
The outer “passive” layer is only made up of a few molecular levels that protect it, and these can be damaged by those cleaners.
Iron is very chemically reactive so when combined with water, chemical cleaners or other ingredients this can produce unwanted or dangerous compounds. This massively increases the risk of cross-contamination and increases the potential of reducing the efficacy and quality of these products.
It’s important to ensure that these tools being regularly cleaned are going through this process to reinforce the protective chromium oxide layer and remove that surface contamination of iron and any cleaning residue.
3. Increases the object’s lifespan
By ensuring regular steel passivation treatments, the need for a total shutdown to clean and restore any stainless-steel components is cut significantly. This also makes passivation of stainless-steel components of any new tools, machines or objects before they’re commissioned very important as it removes any debris left over from the manufacturing process itself.
4. Less long-term costs
With steel passivation reducing the risk of contamination, the resulting savings made without any unplanned expenses involved are considerable. There is no need for full system shutdowns for any deep cleaning processes, the production time isn’t cut in order to do this, and there is no need for locating and remediating the sources of contamination. With all of those costs taken off the table, the only “additional” ongoing expense necessary is regular stainless-steel passivation treatments, which are an investment worth making and will save you money in the long run.
Passivation Of Stainless Steel at Dorsetware
Discover more about steel passivation and other metal finishing services with Dorsetware. Get in touch via our online contact form or by phone on 01202 677939 to speak with our expert team for guidance on your project or to get a quote.