Stainless Steels Pickling
Pickling and passivation of stainless steels are often considered as a single process, but this is true only in the case of the electrochemical pickling process, during which simultaneously both pickling and passivation are performed: while the pickling occurs, there is the creation of the first passivation layers on the stainless steel surface.
In general, the pickling is defined as the removal of slag, oxides, paint and any other object from the surface of a material. In particular, in the case of stainless steel pickling, it is about the removal of all surface impurities, slags and oxides resulting from the treatments previously performed (eg. cutting and welding), ferrous inclusions, and contaminations.