FlexGuard™ Helps Reduce Aluminum Corrosion in Multi-Metal Closed Loops

The Problem

A large packaging plant in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States was struggling with corrosion in its closed loop system.

Having switched to a molybdate-free treatment program to comply with discharge permit requirements, plant personnel were unable to maintain corrosion at the desired levels, especially in the aluminum system components. The severity of aluminum corrosion compromised the system, which would have cost approximately $1.8M to replace.

The facility reached out to ChemTreat for a solution to help them manage corrosion without re-introducing molybdate into the system.

The Solution

The ChemTreat team proposed FlexGuard^™, our patent-pending organic acid-based closed loop corrosion solution. Designed specifically to address aluminum corrosion issues in closed loop systems, this technology does not contain nitrite or molybdate.

FlexGuard was fed into the plant’s system at a dose of 5,000 ppm as product. This technology features fluorescent tracing, allowing the facility to track dosage with a hand-held PTSA meter for enhanced dosage monitoring.

The Results

Thanks to FlexGuard, the packaging plant saw a significant improvement in corrosion. Aluminum corrosion rates decreased from >6 to 1 mpy. Additionally, mild steel corrosion decreased from 1.0 to 0.1 mpy, and copper corrosion decreased from 0.1 to <0.1 mpy.

Coupon Type	Before FlexGuard Treatment	After FlexGuard Treatment
Aluminum	>6 mpy corrosion rate	1 mpy corrosion rate
Mild Steel	1.0 mpy corrosion rate	0.1 mpy corrosion rate
Copper	0.1 mpy corrosion rate	<0.1 mpy corrosion rate