The Effect of Alkali and Surfactant Concentration, Temperature and Stirring on the Cleaning Efficiency of the Carbon Steel Surface

"Electrostatic painting is the fastest and most efficient technology through industrial paints due to its impact on the environment, and also for its very easy application on different surfaces. The first and most important stage of the electrostatic painting is to clean the surface to be painted by removing the dirt, lubricants, oils, metal oxides or welding residues. In order to increase the efficiency of carbon steel surface cleaning, the influence of alkali and surfactant concentrations, temperature and stirring was investigated. To produce a uniform surface required for the electrostatic painting, some degreased samples were subjected to pickling operation using aqueous HCl solution. Keywords: carbon-steel, degreasing, pickling, ultrasonication "