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How do I get Cosmoline out of my tanks?

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  • How do I get Cosmoline out of my tanks?

    Anybody has any experience with trying to remove cosmoline from the inside of a new tank? I have three new tanks, 2 x 15bbl FV and 1 x 15bbl BBT, all from the same manufacturer that I cannot get clean. The tanks are American made and brand new. There is a greyish film on the inside of the tanks that will not come out, no matter what I try. This stuff is on the sidewall, cone, manway, etc. This picture shows what it looks like on a white paper towel immediately after a cycle.Click image for larger version

Name:	Tank dirt  02.04.2015.jpg
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ID:	193685 My chemical company says its something called cosmoline, a rust inhibitor, and is applied after the formation of the steel to protect it.

    First of all, I use Wesmar Chemical for all of my chemicals and followed their directions exactly. I have not had this problem with any of the 10 tanks that I have or my BK,MT, or HLT. My initial cleaning on the new tanks was with liquid excel caustic followed by a 40% by volume nitric-phosophoric acid passivation cycle.

    I have run the caustic/acid cycle three times, used a degreaser called Lift Off SGF, purple degreaser from Home Depot, a mixture of liquid excel and Lift Off and also CIP cycle using 200ppm of chlorine at 90 deg F (per the direction of my chemical company) and this crap is still in the tanks.

    Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of this stuff?

    Thanks.

    Steve Navarro
    Co-Owner / Head Brewer
    Pacific Brewing & Malting Co.
    Tacoma, WA

  • #2
    Mineral spirits?

    Comment


    • #3
      An exorcism?
      Russell Everett
      Co-Founder / Head Brewer
      Bainbridge Island Brewing
      Bainbridge Island, WA

      Comment


      • #4
        Tanks

        Did you talk to the tank manufacturer?
        Cheers!
        -Alan

        Comment


        • #5
          the avice on the Mosin-Nagant forum is to disassemble the rifle and bake the parts gently till it all slides off. Mind you, it is also referred to in various places as "the devil's snot"!)

          For some reason I think this advice may be somewhat difficult to implement on brewing equipment

          Comment


          • #6
            I would second the mineral spirits, a long time working in machine shops receiving new tools covered in cosmoline. Mineral spirits does wonders on it and oils in general. Maybe reconsider your manufacturer. The tanks should be passivated not covered in cosmoline.

            Comment


            • #7
              A solvent of some kind would be my next try. Hopefully, mineral spirits will do the trick without escalating to more noxious solvents.

              I've never seen a brewery vessel treated this way. It makes me question the professionalism of your supplier--who should at least give you the key to unlock this mystery.

              The bad news is that once you get rid of the crap, you'll have to repeat your nitric-acid passivation cycle. Anything greasy will prevent the nitric from interacting with the steel and forming a passivation layer.
              Timm Turrentine

              Brewerywright,
              Terminal Gravity Brewing,
              Enterprise. Oregon.

              Comment


              • #8
                I've been working with both my equipment manufacturer and the chemical company to try to figure this out. The manufacturer has only seen this a couple of times in all his years and the chemical company rep seems to know a lot about what it is but so far nothing they recommend to remove it is working. That's why I'm reaching out to all of you. I'll try mineral spirits next and maybe an exorcism.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Solvents

                  You might need a Polar Solvent such as Acetone.
                  Warren Turner
                  Industrial Engineering Technician
                  HVACR-Electrical Systems Specialist
                  Moab Brewery
                  The Thought Police are Attempting to Suppress Free Speech and Sugar coat everything. This is both Cowardice and Treason given to their own kind.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    WD40 and a rag will take it right off

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by NatchezBrew View Post
                      WD40 and a rag will take it right off
                      It might work but I wouldnt want WD40 odor in my brewery. Use Acetone it will flash off odor free
                      Mike Eme
                      Brewmaster

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Had the same issue with our new FVs and we ended up mixing a degreaser in the cone and going in the FV and scrub it away with a very soft 3M scotch pad. We build a wood platform so it sits on the cone so we can stand in the FV.

                        It came right off, then we rinsed it out, caustic and nitric/phosphoric cycle.
                        Cheers!
                        ______________

                        Mario Bourgeois
                        www.CasselBrewery.ca
                        Casselman ON Canada

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I had a similar problem with some Chinese kit. 5% caustic at 80 C didn't remove it, so we had to hand scrub a couple of times, then used 5% hot caustic again - recirculating for 30 minutes plus each time. I used to use potassium hydroxide based degreasant, and this was far better than NaOH, but don't seem to be able to get it at a vaguely sensible price.
                          dick

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                          • #14
                            Thanks for identifying what this crap is. I had this stuff in some chinese tanks and caustic/acids didn't do shit to take it off. What I ended up doing was getting an extendable squeegee down at the hardware store and using white towels. I wrapped a towel around the end then used some ripped up towel strips to tie the towel onto the end of the squeegee to make sure I didn't scratch the tank. With a ladder I was able to reach in and get to all the surface area and I repeated the process until the towel came back clean. I was concerned about residue in the piping but most all of it seemed to be concentrated along the walls about mid high in the tank. Let us know what works in your case as I'd be interested to find a better way in the event that we have to deal with it again.

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