Who?

A leading industrial manufacturer needed an effective cooling tower rust remover to restore heavily corroded cooling water piping during a planned maintenance shutdown.

What?

The facility needed to remove years of accumulated rust and scale from steel piping while preparing the system for long-term corrosion prevention.

Why?

Despite routine water treatment, severe internal corrosion continued to develop throughout the cooling water system. The customer wanted to evaluate whether ZERUST® AxxaClean™ 2048 could effectively remove the corrosion and support future maintenance efforts.

How?

ZERUST® Technical Services evaluated AxxaClean™ 2048 by immersing heavily corroded pipe samples for three hours. The product successfully removed heavy rust and oxide buildup, after which ZERUST® recommended additional corrosion prevention measures to address the root cause.

Problem: Cooling Tower Rust Remover Needed for Heavily Corroded Cooling Water Piping

Corrosion and scale buildup inside industrial cooling water systems can restrict flow, reduce heat transfer efficiency, and complicate routine maintenance. In this application, years of corrosion had produced heavy iron oxide deposits throughout the cooling water piping, despite ongoing water treatment.

The customer required a cooling tower rust remover capable of dissolving heavy corrosion deposits while minimizing labor during scheduled maintenance. Beyond removing existing rust, they also wanted to identify the underlying cause of the corrosion so future deterioration could be prevented.

Solution: AxxaClean™ 2048 Cooling Tower Rust Remover Restores Cooling Water Piping

ZERUST® recommended AxxaClean™ 2048 Immersion, a powerful industrial rust remover formulated to dissolve heavy rust and oxide deposits from ferrous components through immersion cleaning.

After mechanically removing loose scale to improve chemical penetration, the pipe sections were immersed in AxxaClean™ 2048 for three hours. Visual inspection showed substantial removal of heavy iron oxide buildup, exposing clean metal surfaces beneath the corrosion. The solution also demonstrated excellent cleaning performance on brass valve components integrated within the piping assembly.

Following the successful cleaning evaluation, ZERUST® recommended a comprehensive corrosion management approach rather than relying solely on rust removal. This included improving feed water treatment and implementing inline corrosion inhibitors to reduce future corrosion throughout the cooling water system.

Key advantages of AxxaClean™ 2048 included:

Rapid removal of heavy rust and iron oxide deposits

Effective immersion cleaning for heavily corroded steel piping

Excellent cleaning performance on brass valve components

Helps prepare piping for inspection, maintenance, or repair

Supports preventative maintenance programs for industrial cooling water systems

Can be integrated with long-term corrosion prevention strategies using ZERUST® corrosion inhibitors

Results

After only three hours of immersion, AxxaClean™ 2048 demonstrated strong rust-removal performance on both heavily corroded pipe samples. Thick oxide deposits were substantially dissolved, revealing significantly cleaner metal surfaces and restoring access to previously rust-covered areas. Brass valve components also exhibited excellent cleaning results during the evaluation.

The trial confirmed that AxxaClean™ 2048 is an effective cooling tower rust remover for removing accumulated corrosion during planned maintenance. Just as importantly, the evaluation enabled ZERUST® engineers to identify opportunities for improving the facility’s water treatment program and recommend corrosion inhibitors designed to minimize future rust formation rather than simply treating the symptoms.

Whether you’re maintaining cooling towers, cooling water piping, heat exchangers, or other industrial water systems, ZERUST® provides complete corrosion management solutions, from rust removal and surface preparation to long-term corrosion prevention.

Contact ZERUST® today to learn how our rust removal technologies and corrosion management expertise can help extend equipment life, reduce maintenance costs, and improve system reliability.