Birchwood Black Oxide Finish Prevents Rust, Resists Galling

The Tru Temp low-temperature black oxide process from Birchwood Technologies is designed to offer robust corrosion protection and break-in lubricity while resisting galling.

Well-suited for applications such as oil and gas drilling components, the coating forms a satin black magnetite finish that protects critical surfaces in storage, shipment and startup. In addition, the in-house process takes just 30 minutes to apply, the company says.

The resulting finish is said to be Mil Spec and RoHS compliant, and withstands as much as 100-150 hours of neutral salt spray or several hundred hours of humidity. The finish is 0.5 microns thick and has no effect on material hardness or load-bearing properties, Birchwood says. The operating solutions contain no EPA-regulated chemicals; process rinse waters are normally sent to sewers as non-hazardous discharge. In areas with restricted water/sewer availability, the process can be configured to use the Near-Zero water recycler to reduce process water consumption by as much as 90 percent, the company says.