FAQs

Thank you for visiting our site!  This page is intended to allow visitors to see some of the most frequnetly asked question or comments about our services and the answers.

If you have a question regarding electropolishing, passivation or corrosion, you can contact us 877-823-7911 for a personal discussion.

Q. Can all electropolishing companies perform on site services?

A. Several firms in the US offer on site services.  In all cases, these companies do on site work sporadically where as UltraClean's primary business is on-site electropishing and electrochemical cleaning.  When considering having on-site sevices done, we recommend asking potential vendors how many separate on site projects they have performed and on how many separate pieces of equipment they can identify as having been processed.  Since UCEP's formation inthe year 2000, we have performed on site remediation work on over 300 on-site projects and over 1000 pieces of equipment.  Further consideration is a prospective vendors OSHA 300 Log and Workers Comp Experience Modifier Rate (EMR). Ultraclean can boast of zero accidents.  The old question is if you need heart surgery would you choose the most experienced Surgeon or the one who just graduated from medical school?

Q. How quickly can a crew be at my facility?

A. With equipment staged in San Jose CA, Houston TX, Philadelphia PA, Raleigh NC, and Vega Baja PR UltraClean can be on site in a matter of hours if necessary.  Trained technicians reside in Puerto Rico, Philadelphia PA, Raleigh NC, and with the largest contingent onf manpower locatied in Houston Texas, and as Houston is no more than 5 hours from any city in the US by air UltraClean can mobilize immediately if necessary.

Q. How critical is safety with this process?

A. Very critical, the processes provided often requires personnel to perform "Confined Space Entry" work which UltraClean does better than anyone.  We provide technicians with hundreds of hours of Confined Space training as well as years of experience.  Further UltraClean provides all necessary equipment to perform a safe job never asking to "borrow" such equipment from our customers.  UCEP has never had an accident associated with a Confined Space Entry in over 300 on site projects mostl of which required confined space work to be performed.

Q. What environmental concerns should a customer have?

A. Electropolishing removes metal form the surface being re-finished.  In the case of 300 series stainless steel (316, 316L, 304, 304L) chromium, nickle, and iron are removed and remain in the electrolyte being used.  Initial rinse water used will also contain measurable amounts of these "heavy metals".  Any reputable electropolish service provider will identify these hazardous by-products and include proper collection and disposal responsibilities in their procedures.  Any vendor who attempts to flush these by-products to a drain not directly upstream of an adequate treatment facility for the metals is risking a violation of EPA laws and placing the liability for such actions directly on the customer from which these materials were discharged.

Q. My purchasing department requires comparison bids on work like this.

A. The problem with the comparison bid approach is determining the qualifications of the parties being asked to do the work.  Considering the risk associated with allowing inexperienced service providers to "learn" on your very sensitive and valuable equipment there is the concern that the low bidder simply arrived at a lower price due to lack of understanding of all a project might entail.  Another concern would be if the "bidders" are offering a comparable outcome.  The very best electropolishing offers optimum product contact surfaces.  It is very common that a "electropolish" vendor will simulate the "bright & shinny" look of an electropolished surface by other means, risking future contamination of product runs. In many cases UltraClean customers will set us up as the only approved vendor for theses services in their facilities in exchange for detailed explanation of our charges allowing the customer an accurate accounting for the cost of the repair. 

Q. Do I need to passivate following complete or partial electropolishing?

A. Many believe electropolishing alone provides a passivated surface. They argue that during the electropolishing process oxygen is concentrated on the surface due to the nature of the electrochemical process and that this presence of oxygen along with metal removal with a phosphoric acid based electrolyte provides the very best "passivated" surface.  Testing for additional release of "free iron" from a completed electropolished and rinsed vessel by circulating and analysing heated nitric acid solution shows no increase in "free iron" release indicating the electropolished surface is as passivated as possible.  ASTM B912 recognizes electropolishing as a suitable form of passivation as long as a citric acid or nitric acid flush is performed between the rinse following electropolishing and the final rinse following the acid flush.  Further B912 prescribes the surface following final rinsing be allowed to thoroughly dry before being placed into service. Passivation vendors will argue that additional passivation following electropolishing will allow for a greater chrome/iron ratio to be measured, yet the effect of increasing this ratio number (i.e.: higher chrome) on an electropolished surface has to corrosion resistance is unclear.

Q. Can electropolishing damage my electronic systems,such as load cells or instrumentation that are attached?

A. In processing hundreds of buffer prep, media prep, fermentation, and blending/fill vessels, UltraClean has never had an issue with instrumentation wiring, load cells, pressure sensing devices, motors, or controls.  Electropolishing uses DC current at low voltages and the part being electropolished represents a complete circuit.  There are no "stray" currents or tendencies for our current to attempt to "go to ground" through the vessels or peripheral wiring.

Q. What about Ra (roughness average)?

A. UltraClean can provide any Ra a customer requires. Many QC departments have determined a Ra limit for product contact surfaces regardless of if the material will be electropolished or not. In photomicrographs of a 20Ra (as measured with a profilometer) showing both electropolished and mechanically polished only an immediate and dramatic difference is apparent.  The electropolished 20Ra is microscopically featureless, while the mechanically polished 20Ra is very course with sheared and torn metal burrs and edges.  This mechanically polished surface has also trapped residue from sanding including a grey powdery residue tightly adhering to the micro-surface.  It is belived the residue is held on to the surface through an electrostatic charge.  Other residuals such as aluminum oxide or silicone oxide particles broken off during the sanding operations have been found embedded into the surface as well.  Even following passivation a mechanically produced 20Ra surface will give up the grey residue when rubbed with a clean wipe as well as release the abrasive particles uncovering a site not passivated allowing active corrosion to start.  Therefore, for optimum product contact surfaces electropolishing regardless of Ra is the superior final finish.

Q. Is there any mechanical equivalent to electropolishing?

A. Yes but only one.  A process known as lapping is used to prepare metallurgical samples in laboratories to observe the  microstructure .  This process requires multiple steps where very fine diamond dust impregnated paste is applied until the grain structure of metal can be seen under magnification without any visible scratches or distortion from cold working from lessor mechanical polishing practices.  In many cases even these diamond polished samples will be exposed to electropolishing as a final finish.  Therefore, there is no practical alternative to electropolishing on large surface areas in real world applications.