Hot rolled steel being unwound from the coil to enter the steel pickle line.

Steel Pickling

Removes surface oxides for a better end product.
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Three Worthington Steel employees in PP&E surround a blue steel slitting machine.

PICKLING CLEANS STEEL SURFACE

Pickling prepares steel for further processing, by removing the oxide scale and other impurities that can form during steelmaking, transportation, and storing. Hot rolled steel is processed through a diluted acid bath to produce a steel surface free of scale, rust, inorganic contaminants, and stains.

Worthington Steel plant employees on the floor at inspection area after temper mill processing.

Why Pickle?

Improve how steel performs on your line.

Oxide scale and other surface impurities are abrasive, decreasing formability and die life in drawing applications. Also, oxide scale affects how well metallic coatings and paint adhere to a steel surface. Your pickling process will be designed to yield cleaned, oiled steel with excellent surface quality and optimum metallurgical conditioning for your needs.

Closeup image of the sidewall of a steel coil.

Advanced Processing

Our processes include the latest push-pull technology.

Push-pull pickling allows us to process a wider range of steel grades. It also opens up more flexible scheduling for you. The "pickle bath" that we run the coil through is a diluted solution of inorganic acid, usually hydrochloric.

The hydrochloric acid is reused to neutralize alkaline wastewater at treatment plants.

Broader Specs

We pickle a broad range of dimensions.

Technical DataUS Metric
Material Thickness0.050” - 0.560”1.3 - 14.2mm
Material Width24” – 74”609.6 - 1879.6mm
Incoming OD (Max)84”2133.6mm
Outgoing ID (Max)24”609.6mm
Coil Weight90,000lbs40823.3kg
Flat roll galvanized steel being processed with hightech inspection equipment.

Full Capabilities

Check out our wide-ranging capabilities.

Collaborate with us to create the exact steel you need. We have the expertise, experience, and capacity to make your process even more efficient by adding:

  • Skin pass temper rolling
  • First operation blanking, dry lube
  • Slitting, oscillate slitting
  • Cold rolling, one-pass rolling, temper rolling
  • Hydrogen annealing
  • Cut-to-length sheets
  • Galvanizing, galvalume, acrylic

 

A blue and black desk with rockwall tester at worthington steel columbus labs

Technical Solution

Analyzing structural safety?

Parts can be compromised in forming. Our Material Support team helped with product development and quality assurance.

Helpful Resources

 How much do you need? What are the specs?
Our top customers rated our steel processing 100% overall in customer support.

Have Questions?

We have ears to listen. And experts who answer.