• Eliminates hazardous/toxic waste disposal

• Zero Waste Discharge because Picklex® does not lose concentration while in use

• Eliminates acid, phosphate or chromate treatments

• Eliminates most of the chemical fumes, health hazard problems

• Eliminates EPA & OSHA problems

• Better working conditions by eliminating hazardous fumes

• Eliminates all pollution (ground and air), that is usually created by traditional processes using acid, phosphate, etc.

• Reduces set up cost considerably due to less steps and the tanks can be made out of high density plastic (traditional system uses metal tanks and lot of stages).

• Use less space due to less number of steps

• Convenient, safe and ready to use

• Simplifies the surface preparation & pre-treatment process considerably

• Depending on the condition of the metal parts, pump and filtering system may not be needed for the dip tank with Picklex®.

• All tanks can be made out of high density plastic only, reducing the set up cost considerably (traditional system uses metal tanks).

• Quick return on investment for new set up (this includes the chemical cost to fill the tank).

• Picklex® works at room temperature.

• Less energy consumption, because no heating is required for Picklex®

• Overall process time (for new system) and running cost (for new and existing systems) reduces considerably, due to less number of steps, very high coverage of Picklex® and Zero Waste disposal from Picklex® tank.

• Negligible evaporation loss from Picklex® tank, because the chemical is not heated. Also, negligible V.O.C.

• Eliminates flash rust problem

• Reduces rate of rejection considerably

• Prepares the metal surface with Zero rust/Oxidation and provides better adhesion

• No sludge is formed in Picklex® tank. Picklex® keeps the stainless steel or plastic tank clean.

• Cut down maintenance considerably

• Less labor, because no monitoring of PH or the thickness of coating is needed (Picklex® maintains the PH automatically).

• Easy cleanup for any spillage, because Picklex® is water-soluble.

• Obtains high quality finishing and provides a very long-term rust/oxidation protection.

• Both steel and aluminum can be treated with Picklex® at the same time.

• Same process can be used for different finishing systems.¨ Future addition of a different finishing process can use the same surface preparation & pre-treatment set up, without installing a separate process.

• Picklex® coating prevents creeping of rust, reducing the future maintenance of a finished product.

• The coating is flexible in nature and will not crack when the metal is bent or when metal expand or contract

DURING SET UP TIME :
Picklex® removes surface rust, weld scale and laser scale from the surface while providing a conversion coating, all in one application, thus eliminating acid treatment or media blasting.
1) Picklex® Process reduces the initial equipment costs for metal surface preparation/pre-treatment considerably compared to phosphate/chromate process: Phosphate/Chromate process requires expensive equipment set up.
2) Picklex® is environmentally safe, non-hazardous : Some Phosphates are hazardous or toxic in nature. Chromate is toxic
3) Picklex® works at room temperature and therefore no heating system is needed for Picklex® tank : Phosphate needs heated tank (Lot of time Chromate needs heating too)
4) Less steps for Picklex® Process (one four step process for both steel and aluminum, and also same process for all type of finishing): More number of steps for Phosphate/Chromate systems. Two separate pre-treatment processes have to be set up for steel and aluminum. Also, different pre-treatment processes have to be set up for different types of finishing.
5) Less & inexpensive equipment needed for Picklex® process reducing cost: More number of equipment in Phosphate/Chromate system
6) Less space is needed for Picklex® Process: More space needed for Phosphate/Chromate system
7) Most of the time, pump and filtering may not be needed for Picklex® process : All the time pump and filtering is needed for Phosphate/Chromate system
8) Do not need lot of ventilation to treat Picklex® : Need good ventilation to treat with Phosphate/Chromate process
 

DURING PRODUCTION TIME :
9) Picklex® works at room temperature and saves the high heating costs: Phosphate needs to be heated up to about 160º F
10) Picklex® is water based and so the evaporation loss is negligible : Phosphate has high evaporation loss due to heating
11) Picklex® works on both steel and aluminum and provides exceptional bonding of powder coating with both the metals : Phosphate works good on steel only. Chromate works good on aluminum
12) Picklex® Process eliminates flash rusting : Phosphate system has flash rust problem
13) Picklex® has no waste disposal : Phosphate/Chromate needs to be disposed periodically
14) Picklex® do not have hazardous fumes and do not need any air permit: Phosphate/Chromate has hazardous fumes
15) Picklex® concentration do not have to adjusted : Phosphate/Chromate concentration has to be adjusted all the time
16) No monitoring of PH or thickness of coating has to be done in Picklex® Process : In Phosphate/Chromate system, pH and the thickness of the coating has to monitored regularly
17) Overall production time for Picklex® Process is much less than Phosphate/Chromate process
18) Picklex® Process is very simple, by dipping, spraying or even brushing: Phosphate/Chromate process is not a simple process
19) Picklex® does not produce any sludge to clean and so the process is continuous: Phosphate/Chromate produces sludge, which should be cleaned periodically stopping the production
20) No health hazard in Picklex® Process : Lot of health hazard with Phosphate/Chromate systems
 

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES :
1) Picklex® is environmentally safe and non-hazardous: Certain Phosphates are hazardous and/or toxic in nature. Chromate is toxic
2) Cleaner working conditions due to no fumes from Picklex® Process : Phosphate/Chromate produces hazardous/toxic chemical fumes
3) Picklex® produces no waste, which keeps the environment clean : Phosphate/Chromate produces lots of hazardous/toxic waste, which are disposed (including their rinse water), creating pollution to the environment
4) Picklex® does not etch the metal surface and therefore no heavy metal goes into the rinse water and there is no hazardous waste involved. The rinse water from most processes carries heavy metal producing hazardous waste.
 

QUALITY/PERFORMANCE :
1) Picklex® takes care of surface rust on steel (removes surface rust while coating): Phosphate leaves the rust on the surface, which affects adhesion/bonding of powder coating and also affects the quality, corrosion resistance etc. (in some cases, the surface rust has to be bead blasted before running the pre-treatment, which adds cost).
2) Picklex® Process provides much higher quality finishing than Phosphate (higher corrosion resistance, salt spray hours, better cosmetic look of the finishing, better bonding etc.)
3) Picklex® provides a zero contaminated surface before finishing:  A lot of contamination is passed on to the metal surface by Phosphate process which affects adhesion considerably.
4) Picklex® Process eliminates most of the operator’s error : Phosphate/Chromate system can have lots of operator error, such as, concentration adjustment, monitoring of pH and thickness of coating, proper removal of sludge, on time waste disposal etc.
5) Performance of Picklex® do not fall, even if it is contaminated with rust particles (rust is not a contaminate for Picklex®): Phosphate gets contaminated with rust and the performance steadily goes down until disposal.
6) The quality of finishing remains almost the same all the time with Picklex® process (when Picklex® is kept clean by proper filtering) : The quality of Phosphate or Chromate system keeps on going down and down from the time it is fresh, until the time it is disposed and re-filled with fresh chemical
7) The rejections from Picklex® Process is almost zero : Phosphate process produces quite a bit of rejected parts
 

RUNNING COSTS :
1) Picklex® Process has no other cost except the use of chemical : Phosphate/Chromate has lot of associated costs
2) Picklex® covers a very large metal surface area, which reduces the product cost to a minimum
3) Eliminates high heating costs
4) Picklex® Process is very cost effective and saves lot of running cost: Phosphate/Chromate system has much higher running costs
5) Picklex® Process requires less labor and time : Phosphate/Chromate system needs more labor and time
6) Overall running cost can be reduced by Picklex® Process, anywhere from 15-20% to around 40-50%, compared to the type of Phosphate used (iron or zinc phosphate) and a big cost cut compared to Chromate pre-treatment process