Acid Cleaners are staple items in the well-equipped tank wash. These materials are rather specific in their mission, with little crossover from one product to the next.

Without diving deeply into the Arrhenius Theory of Acids and Bases, let’s consider only the cleaning properties of certain materials. And also, for the purpose of the discussion, all acidic cleaners deployed in tank wash operations can be deployed and easily neutralized into the wastewater stream.

Aluminum Brightener

This mis-named material is more often than not, used to clean stainless steel road tankers. As the name implies, it will, indeed, brighten up aluminum fenders, wheels, etc. It is even used on a wide variety of surface types for ISO tank cleaning, suck as stainless steel, aluminum, painted, FRP’s.

Several formulation types are available, each with its unique set of characteristics:

• John-Henry ALUMINUM BRIGHTENER® – An elegant phosphoric acid and hydrofluoric acids, moderate foaming.
• John-Henry LUMINATE® – A superior blend of phosphoric acid and hydrofluoric acids, high foaming.
• JOHN-HENRY #1® Acidic Pre-Soak for manual or automatic two-step wash systems.

Rust Remover

At times the transportation of certain types of materials will compromise the chromium oxide passive film of the stainless steel. Once this occurs, passivation is required. But prior to passivation, all superficial rust must be removed. Rather than performing a passivation procedure several times, which can be quite costly and time-consuming, consider that the chromium oxide is already compromised, or not at all present. Hence, the application of John-Henry GO-pHER® via a fogging system will aid in rust removal, leaving the stainless steel tank so clean that it might appear pristine. Be assured that it is NOT ready for the next cargo. After this rust removal process, the tank must be passivated following the ASTM-A967 standard.

Passivation

This process is required to restore the chromium oxide layer to stainless steel tanks, especially after a rust removal process as outlined above, and/or buffing the tank. See “Passivation FAQ.”

The application of mild oxidants, such as John-Henry PASSIVE 8®, or PASSIVE 8LD®, will dynamically begin the restoration of the chromium oxide to the tank. As per ASTM-A967, the process can be performed at ambient temperatures via the John-Henry SIMPLICITY FOGGER®. For best results, see Standard Operating Procedures.

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