RustBuster

Product Information

Applications

RustBuster is a specially formulated, environmentally friendly, derusting and pickling solution. It is of

neutral pH, prepared by mixing a proprietary additive called FerroFree with fresh water or light brines.
RustBuster solutions are capable of derusting a wide variety of metals through their powerful chelating
action. They also help provide longer-term protection by a passivity mechanism. RustBuster offers
advantages in terms of safety and simplicity of operations, when compared to traditional acid pickling
methods, yielding a reduction in the quantity of products and equipment required.

Features

Easily Prepared
The active ingredient, FerroFree, is supplied as a concentrated liquid additive and is diluted to a
concentration of 6 – 12% by volume. At these concentrations, there is no need to add additional
surfactants, inhibitors or clay control additives. Solvents and/or non-emulsifiers may be required,
depending on the type of crude oil.

Simple Application
The FerroFree concentration in RustBuster solution will depend on BHST, as shown in the table below. It
can be used as a one-step treatment as there is no need to split the system to isolate different metal
types. It may be used in soak or circulation treatments.

Application FerroFree Concentration

% by volume gal/1000 gal
BHST: 60 – 120°F 10 – 12% 111 – 136 gpt
BHST: 120 – 180°F 8 – 10% 87 – 111 gpt
BHST: 180 – 350°F 6 – 7% 64 – 75 gpt
Coiled tubing applications, or consecutive treatments
6% 64 gpt
on cleaned metal within 7 days (for all BHST)

Compatibility
RustBuster is compatible with elastomers and there is no need to remove valves. It is safe to use on
chrome steels as long as fresh water or light brines are used as the carrier fluid. While neither RustBuster
nor FerroFree themselves contain any chlorides, as always, advice should be sought before using chloride
brines in applications involving exotic metallurgies. FerroFree is also compatible with solvents, acids and
most stimulation additives. In acid solutions, it controls iron precipitation and it can be used as a stand-
alone iron control agent. It remains effective at low pH, below 2, where most iron control agents lose their
3+
effectiveness. Usually, a concentration of 8 gpt is sufficient to sequester 3,000 ppm of Fe at low pH.

Powerful De-Rusting Action

Even at ambient temperature, RustBuster quickly removes rust from metals through chemical action and
by loosening deposits that quickly slough-off the surface. The speed of reaction and the quantity of iron
that can be sequestered are dependent on the FerroFree concentration and temperature, but most fluids
3+
are stable up to 12,000 ppm of Fe in solution.

The above data is supplied solely for informational purposes and BJ Services Company makes no guarantees or warranties, either express or implied, with respect to the
accuracy or use of this data. All product warranties and guarantees shall be governed by the standard contract terms at the time of sale.

BJ SERVICES COMPANY
LATIN AMERICA REGION
RustBuster
Product Information

Complexing Action
RustBuster reacts with rust, mill scale and the steel substrate itself, producing a protective film that coats
the metal. This protection will last for several days or weeks. Depending on treatment variables, a
gunmetal silvery or light grey surface with a mildly passive surface is formed.

FerroFree is also a competent calcium sequestering agent in the presence of iron, dissolving scales and
other carbonates particles. In wellbores containing carbonate scales, RustBuster yields a similar
performance to EDTA / NTA type additives. Thus, RustBuster could be used in combination with BJ’s
proprietary polymer-linkage-specific enzymes to dissolve filter cake from drill in fluids.

Safety and Ease of Disposal

RustBuster solutions have a neutral pH and thus require minimal handling precautions. Normal industrial
hygiene procedures should be applied. Advice should be sought on the disposal of spent RustBuster
solutions since these contain dissolved metals. However, iron is not considered to be a toxic metal from
an environmental perspective. If permissible, by environmental legislation, it may be disposed of directly
to sewers, or overboard.

Benefits

• Provides single-step efficient rust removal and metal protection with fewer products used.
• Simplifies treatment design and logistics. There is no need to split mixed-metal systems. Valves are
left in place.
• May be used at ambient temperature. Solvent heating is not essential.
• Non-acidic, single-step, filter cake removal in combination with polymer-linkage-specific enzymes.
• Safe and simple to use with easy disposal.

Considerations and Limitations

The term "rust" encompasses a variety of corrosion products of iron, water and oxygen. The composition
depends on how the rust was generated. Rust is usually a mixture of compounds, each having different
iron content. In common with traditional solvents, not all of these oxides may be readily soluble in
RustBuster solutions. Laboratory testing has proved that by attacking the rust at the substrate interface, it
is generally possible to remove all of the deposit through a combination of chemical dissolution and
sloughing. Sloughing occurs when the underlying rust is dissolved, allowing surface flakes to detach
without complete dissolution. This effect, combined with the variable iron content of rust, makes it difficult
to correlate rust removal with the iron-chelating capacity of RustBuster. Iron sulphides are not attacked
when FerroFree is diluted in fresh water. Consequently, there will be no H2S evolution, in contrast with
conventional acid pickling solutions.

The above data is supplied solely for informational purposes and BJ Services Company makes no guarantees or warranties, either express or implied, with respect to the
accuracy or use of this data. All product warranties and guarantees shall be governed by the standard contract terms at the time of sale.

BJ SERVICES COMPANY
LATIN AMERICA REGION
RustBuster
Product Information

The time required to completely de-rust steel will depend on the type and quantity of rust present, the type
of steel, the concentration and temperature of solvent, and the ratio of solvent volume to surface area. It
will also depend on the degree of agitation and freedom from co-deposited layers of other scales and
hydrocarbon. The following graph shows the typical de-rusting performance of RustBuster, using different
concentrations of FerroFree, versus a traditional acid pickle treatment:

Comparative Derusting Performance

Static Test @ 80 Degrees F
100

90
Percentage of Rust Removed

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Time (Hours)

6% FerroFree 12% FerroFree 10% HCl Pickling s

At temperatures above 120 °F, and under dynamic conditions, RustBuster will react as fast as HCl and the
rust will be completely removed in around 10 minutes contact time, leaving a passive metal surface,
protected for several days:

The above data is supplied solely for informational purposes and BJ Services Company makes no guarantees or warranties, either express or implied, with respect to the
accuracy or use of this data. All product warranties and guarantees shall be governed by the standard contract terms at the time of sale.

BJ SERVICES COMPANY
LATIN AMERICA REGION
RustBuster
Product Information

Pre-job evaluation is essential to assess the suitability of the proposed treatment. Testing is best
performed on a removed section of rusted pipe. A sample scraped from the surface is unlikely to be
representative.

Heavy hydrocarbon soiling must be removed to improve RustBuster’s activity. This is accomplished by
using it in combination with an organic solvent. The preferred solvents are Paravan-19L / Paravan-25L,
which are environmentally friendly paraffin solvents / asphaltene dispersants and excellent de-greasers.

Safety Precautions

Neither FerroFree nor RustBuster present any specific hazards in conjunction with the appropriate
handling and precautionary measures described in the Material Safety Data Sheet. Always wear
appropriate PPE when handling chemicals. Consideration should also be given to materials that may
contaminate the fluid during its use.

Technical Data

FerroFree Additive:
Specific Gravity 1.31 - 1.35
Appearance Clear, light yellow, mobile fluid
Odour Mild
Flash Point None
Freezing Point -120 °C
pH 5.8 – 6.2
Solubility Completely soluble in water, light brines and acids
OCNS Classification D
Packaging 55 US gallon drums, other sizes available

Supersedes

Traditional acid-pickle treatments.

Ammoniated citric acid based fluids.

References

Material Safety Data Sheet

Chemical Services Technical Manual

01/02

The above data is supplied solely for informational purposes and BJ Services Company makes no guarantees or warranties, either express or implied, with respect to the
accuracy or use of this data. All product warranties and guarantees shall be governed by the standard contract terms at the time of sale.

BJ SERVICES COMPANY
LATIN AMERICA REGION