Proceedings of the Twentieth (2010) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference

Beijing, China, June 2025, 2010

Copyright 2010 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE)
ISBN 978-1-880653-77-7 (Set); ISSN 1098-6189 (Set); www.isope.org

A Low-Cost and High-Performance Rust Converter Suitable for Ocean Vessel Hull Treatment
Xiqiu Fan, Xiaodong Zhao
College of Electromechanical engineering, Zhejiang Ocean University.
Zhoushn, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China

ABSTRACT
Ferrous powder

10-20%

When ships are repaired, rust on hulls need to be removed. However,

traditional rust removing methods such as grinding by hand, shoveling
and sand blast and so on are very time-consuming. This paper presents
a rust converter suitable for ocean vessel hull treatment, whose
formulation is based on polyphosphoric acid and tannic acid. In order to
improve the performance of the product, active agent, catalytic agent,
corrosion inhibitor, penetrating agent and wetting agent, etc., are added.
Some results of accelerating experiment such as the A. C. impedance
experiment are also presented, which demonstrate the high performance
of the product. All ingredients in the product are cheap, easily
accessible, and environment-friendly.

Urotropine
Glycerol
Water

20-10%
10-20%
60-50%

KEY WORDS: Rust converter; polyphosphoric acid; tannic acid;

All ingredients in the product are cheap, easily accessible, and

environment-friendly. When the rust on hulls need to be removed, first,
brush or spray the pretreatment agent on the rusty vessel hull area.
After 30-60 minutes or so, the post-treatment agent is brushed or
sprayed. Corrosion conversion time needs 5-12 hours, depending on
environment temperature and relative humidity, etc. In the case of
mass production, the pretreatment agent and the post-treatment agent
can be integrated into a formula to facilitate mass production.

The ingredients of the post-treatment agent are as follow:

Polyphosphoric acid
40-50%
Water
40%
Manganese monoxide (MnO) 2-1%
Ethylic acid
10-6%
Tannic acid
8-3%

vessel hull.

INTRODUCTION
The 21st century is a century focusing on ocean. China is witnessing
the fast growth of her ocean economy and ocean industries after the
strategy of ocean development. In order to exploit ocean, shipping
industry development should be given priority. However, Ocean vessels
are very prone to corrosion due to the heavy-duty corrosive marine
environment.

MECHANISMS
The Role of Polyphosphoric Acid

When ships are repaired, the rusty hull surface should be repainted.
Before repainting, rust on hulls need to be removed first. However,
traditional rust removing methods such as grinding by hand, shoveling
and sand blast and so on are very time-consuming. In addition, some
hull area such as corner and notch, rust removing is very inconvenient.

Phosphoric acid is the most important ingredient of rust converter

products because it can react with main ingredients of rust such as
Fe2O 3H2O, FeOOH, FeO H2O (Fe (OH) 2) and Fe3O4xH 2O.
Fe2O3H2O + 6H3PO4 = 2Fe (H 2PO4)3 + 4H2O
FeOOH+ 3H3PO4 = Fe (H 2PO4)3 + 2H 2O
2FeO H2O/Fe (OH) 2+ 4H 3PO4 = 2Fe (H2PO4)2 + 3H2O
Fe3O4xH 2O+8H3PO4 = Fe3 (H2PO 4)8 + (4+x)H 2O

Rust converter is a liquid metal treatment agent that is sprayed on rusty

surfaces and converts rust into adherent chemical compounds, thus it
not only removes the rust, but also can prevent further corrosion and
protect the surface eventually. Moreover, it reduces labor strength and
pollution to a great extent. This paper presents a rust converter suitable
for ocean vessel hull treatment, whose formulation is based on
polyphosphoric acid and tannic acid.

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

At the very beginning, phosphoric acid is excessive, so dihydric

phosphate, the reactive product dissolves in phosphoric acid, and can
not form an intact cover film on metal surfaces. With the depletion of
phosphoric acid, the dihydric phosphate begins to turn into indissoluble
phosphate.

INGREDIENTS
The product is made up of two portions, i.e. pretreatment agent and
post-treatment agent. The ingredients of the pretreatment agent are as
follow:

Fe (H2PO4)3 Fe2 (HPO4)3 FePO4

Fe (H2PO4)2 FeHPO4 Fe3 (PO4)2

38

(5)
(6)