Mild Steel

mild steel has been investigated by the study of the corrosion of carbon steel in widely processed sweet orange (Citrus Sinensis). Weight loss technique was used in which test coupons, with known weight, were immersed in the test media: natural orange juice, orange juice with preservatives and water; for a total exposure time of 10 days. The weight loss was measured at an interval of two (2) days, and the corrosion rate was determined. Corrosive effects are of remarkable consequence in the food processing industry as fruits contain corrosion aggressive substances, thereby causing significant impact on the degradation of constructional materials and the maintenance or replacement of products lost or contaminated as a result of corrosion reactions. The result revealed that the corrosiveness of sweet orange juice relative to carbon steel were mainly a function of its acidity. Consequently, packed orange juice with preservative was most corrosive followed by natural orange juice and water respectively.

Metals and its alloy are exposed to the action of acids in industrial processes which causes severe problems such as increases in mass and corrosion of surfaces resulting in economic losses [1]. These effects are of particular consequence in the food processing industry as food substances, like other organic and inorganic substances is increasingly becoming corrosive; thereby causing significant impact on the degradation of constructional materials and the maintenance or replacement of products lost or contaminated as a result of corrosion reactions [2]. These corrosive effects on different constructional materials in all phases of processing and packaging of food – one of the most basic needs of life, are all too common.
The material for most equipment are mild steel which is selected because of its strength, ductility, weldability and it is amenable to heat treatment for varying mechanical properties [3,4,5,6]. However, mild steel corrodes easily because all common structural metals form surface oxide films when exposed to pure air but the oxide formed on mild steel is readily broken down, and in the presence of moisture it is not repaired.