Helping industry
"GET IT RIGHT"

Contact Richard Raper from Australian Pickling & Passivation Service on

0400 816 290 to discuss your next chemical cleaning, pickling and passivation requirements.

A Need Filled

Whilst working for Avesta Welding and Finishing Chemicals; Richard Raper travelled the length and breadth of the east coast of Australia, talking to distributors and end users about stainless steels, their projects; welding consumables and how they would surface treat finished stainless steel fabrications to restore corrosion resistance.

It became apparent from the many fabricators that many Richard spoke with, they were against pickling and did not understand the benefits of the process nor did they have the facilities on their sites. All had heard of the dangerous acids involved, the environmental considerations and so consequently didn’t want to have it anywhere near their sites. Often jobs would receive no further treatment after welding. Richard also found that pickling and passivation was often the last thing a lot of companies even thought about.

Lack of Options

“There are of course a lot of gadgets out in the market place nowadays” says Richard, “to restore the corrosion resistance to an item, the initial cost and ongoing consumables can be costly. The other choice is to use a 25mm pickling brush and a 2 litre jar of pickling paste. Both options still only work the external weld and there are large manual labour costs associated. There are a few people offering pickling services as a secondary income to pickling their own products, but often their capabilities and capacities do not suit the client’s job. This left a huge gap in what could be treated properly and customers would have nowhere to go”.

How It Started

Passion
Richard Raper is passionate about stainless steel, and when he heard of some large, stainless steel pipe fabrication work that was about to begin, he decided to take a chance.
Approaching the client
Richard approached the fabricator and offered to treat their stainless steel pipe spools by immersing them in a pickling bath
Expertise
Richard says that they had not really considered the length of time it would take them to pickle and passivate the 40 tonnes of pipe. The company were going to use standard pickling paste, which would only have treated the welded joint on the external of the pipe.
Results
Richard explained to the company; the process he would employ. The fabricator was absolutely thrilled because they did not have to do this work themselves, and they would be getting a finished product whereby the internal and external surfaces of the pipe would be fully restored. Both the fabricator and the client were extremely happy with the finished product. The whole job took about 6 weeks to complete with a 100% result.
Set Up Of The Company
It all started by registering a company “Australian Pickling and Passivation Service” now commonly known as "APPS" and then securing suitable premises to complete the work. After a short search, a suitable commercial workshop was found and leased in Tomago Newcastle.
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