A laboratory‐scale device was constructed for treating small‐size steel sheet specimens in an analogous manner to the acid pickling production line. This descaling simulator comprises three tanks for hydrochloric acid and another one for rinsing the samples, providing an automated sample transfer with a free selection of all processing parameters such as motion rate, residence time, temperature, etc. A detailed description of the simulator device will be given. Besides the pickling loss which was the primary parameter measured, surface roughness of the samples, Raman spectrum of the surface, and scale thickness were also determined in some cases. Scale‐related pickling loss and overpickling rate were determined for a number of steel qualities. The role of the pickling liquors of each tank was studied, and the descaling efficiency at various acid temperatures was assessed. A statistical analysis was used for estimating the fluctuation in the scale thickness on the hot‐rolled specimens. Results obtained with the descaling simulator were also checked with an optical imaging of the scale and a composition depth profile analysis. The scale thickness obtained from weight loss measurement was in good agreement with the direct scale thickness measurement.

A fully automated laboratory-scale workstation has been constructed for simulating industrial acid pickling processes of steel sheet products. The device built comprises 4 liquid tanks that can be heated up to 80 °C and an arbitrary immersion program can be performed with the sheets to be tested by varying the immersion time and the motion velocity in each tank. The weight loss has been measured for both hot-rolled and cold-rolled specimens as a function of all variable parameters. The weight loss associated with the removal of the oxide layer could be established. The average oxide-related loss was 58 g⋅m-2 and 2 g⋅m-2 for hot-rolled and cold-rolled samples, respectively. It was found that the immersion time is the decisive parameter in the weigh loss measured, while the motion velocity and the temperature of the sample treatment are of secondary importance.