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Chlorides Measurement

The measurement of surface chlorides on substrates can be conducted with various test kits to detect chloride ions. Steel that has been exposed to marine environments, has a very high chance of surface chlorides which need to be removed prior to or after abrasive blasting. Elevated levels of soluble salts and or surface chloride ions, can lead to premature coating failure and rework.

	Contaminants Measured	Standards	Best Scenarios	Benefits	Disadvantages
DEFELSKO® POSITECTOR SST PROBE AND POSIPATCH STARTER KIT	Measures Total Salts – Chlorides (Measuring Range): Conductivity: 0 – 1,500 μS/cm Surface Density: 0 – 6,000 mg/m2, 0.0 – 600.0 μg/cm2	ISO 8502-6/8502-9 US Navy NSI 009-32 US Navy PPI 63101-000 Navy NAVSEA 009-32 AS 3894.6 IMO MSC.215(82) IMO MSC.244(83) SSPC Guide 15 ISO 11127-6 ASTM D4940	Measures Total Salts Complete kit of Defelsko SST system. Includes deionised wash water, components required to capture wash water, syringes to extract wash water and probe to calculate test results.	Operator doesn’t need to do any calculations to arrive at a reading as they are calculated by the gauge. Standard Gauge Body stores up to 1000 downloadable readings	Does not measure chlorides, nitrates or sulfates individually, you need a titration tube for that Higher investment required.
SCAT SURFACE CONTAMINATION ANALYSIS TEST KIT	Chlorides (40 ppm) Ferrous ions (3 ppm) pH level (4 to 9)	AS1627-1 AS3894-6	Measuring Chloride, Ferrous Irons & pH level. Uses a test strip to measure in parts per million (ppm)	Older technology with no benefit over alternate technologies.	Older technology, with more steps in the process and more complex processes than alternate testing procedures.
CHLORTEST CSN TEST KIT COMPLETE	Chlorides (5-200 ppm) Sulfates (0-100 ppm) Nitrates (0-150 ppm)	ISO8502 AS1627-4	Allows for testing for Chlorides (commonly known as salt), Sulfates (found in sulfuric acid, which is present in exhaust fumes and creates acid rain) and Nitrates (found in nitric acid, which is present in exhaust emission and fertilizers)	Complete Kit, Contains Titration tubes to measure distinct surface contaminants All results in ppm, so no conversions are required	Electronic Colorimeter is a significant upfront investment
CHLOR*TEST SURFACE CHLORIDE ION TEST KIT	Chlorides (5-200 ppm)	ISO8502-5 ISO8502-6 AS1627-4	Testing for chloride, commonly known as sea or rock salt, which is by far the most common surface contaminant on a blasted surface.	Quick & easy to use	None
CHLORCHECK CHLOR*TEST ABRASIVE CHLORIDE TEST KIT	Chlorides in Abrasive (1-50 ppm)	ASTM D4940	Unique kit to determine the presence of chlorides in your abrasive. Don’t unwittingly blast adhesion-destroying salt onto the surface you want to coat.	When your specification calls you to measure the chlorides in your abrasive	None


	DEFELSKO® POSITECTOR SST PROBE AND POSIPATCH STARTER KIT	SCAT SURFACE CONTAMINATION ANALYSIS TEST KIT	CHLORTEST CSN TEST KIT COMPLETE	CHLOR*TEST SURFACE CHLORIDE ION TEST KIT	CHLORCHECK CHLOR*TEST ABRASIVE CHLORIDE TEST KIT
Contaminants Measured	Measures Total Salts – Chlorides (Measuring Range): Conductivity: 0 – 1,500 μS/cm Surface Density: 0 – 6,000 mg/m², 0.0 – 600.0 μg/cm²	Chlorides (40 ppm) Ferrous ions (3 ppm) pH level (4 to 9)	Chlorides (5-200 ppm) Sulfates (0-100 ppm) Nitrates (0-150 ppm)	Chlorides (5-200 ppm)	Chlorides in Abrasive (1-50 ppm)
Standards	ISO 8502-6/8502-9 US Navy NSI 009-32 US Navy PPI 63101-000 Navy NAVSEA 009-32 AS 3894.6 IMO MSC.215(82) IMO MSC.244(83) SSPC Guide 15 ISO 11127-6 ASTM D4940	AS1627-1 AS3894-6	ISO8502 AS1627-4	ISO8502-5 ISO8502-6 AS1627-4	ASTM D4940
Best Scenarios	Measures Total Salts Complete kit of Defelsko SST system. Includes deionised wash water, components required to capture wash water, syringes to extract wash water and probe to calculate test results.	Measuring Chloride, Ferrous Irons & pH level. Uses a test strip to measure in parts per million (ppm)	Allows for testing for Chlorides (commonly known as salt), Sulfates (found in sulfuric acid, which is present in exhaust fumes and creates acid rain) and Nitrates (found in nitric acid, which is present in exhaust emission and fertilizers)	Testing for chloride, commonly known as sea or rock salt, which is by far the most common surface contaminant on a blasted surface.	Unique kit to determine the presence of chlorides in your abrasive. Don’t unwittingly blast adhesion-destroying salt onto the surface you want to coat.
Benefits	Operator doesn’t need to do any calculations to arrive at a reading as they are calculated by the gauge. Standard Gauge Body stores up to 1000 downloadable readings	Older technology with no benefit over alternate technologies.	Complete Kit, Contains Titration tubes to measure distinct surface contaminants All results in ppm, so no conversions are required	Quick & easy to use	When your specification calls you to measure the chlorides in your abrasive
Disadvantages	Does not measure chlorides, nitrates or sulfates individually, you need a titration tube for that Higher investment required.	Older technology, with more steps in the process and more complex processes than alternate testing procedures.	Electronic Colorimeter is a significant upfront investment	None	None

Positector SST Acessories

The below accessories are for use with the Defelkso Positector SST system. This system uses the Bresle method (ISO 8502-6,9) – with a digital probe calculating the concentration of soluble salts. This is derived from the measured conductivity reading & sample test volume.

	Best Scenarios	Benefits	Disadvantages
DEFELSKO® POSITECTOR SST – PROBE ONLY	Probe only for where an inspector already has a DeFelsko body. Gauge set up will measure total salts	Fast accurate and simple Advanced & Standard Gauge bodies can store readings for download to PC/mobile	Will only measure total salts, not individual chloride ions
DEFELSKO® SST POSIPATCH STANDARD (RIGID) MAGNETIC RING	Flat surfaces or those with a diameter greater than 101cm (40”)	Failsafe method of containing wash water Uses Plastic Needle, so safe for ‘no-sharp’ sites	None
DEFELSKO® SST POSIPATCH FLEXIBLE MAGNETIC RING	Surfaces with a diameter equal to, or greater than 10 cm (4″)	Failsafe method of containing wash water Uses Plastic Needle, so safe for ‘no-sharp’ sites	None
DEFELSKO POSITECTOR SST LATEX PATCHES	Used for containing deionised water (wash fluid).	Usually leaves no adhesive behind after removal.	None


	DEFELSKO® POSITECTOR SST – PROBE ONLY	DEFELSKO® SST POSIPATCH STANDARD (RIGID) MAGNETIC RING	DEFELSKO® SST POSIPATCH FLEXIBLE MAGNETIC RING	DEFELSKO POSITECTOR SST LATEX PATCHES
Best Scenarios	Probe only for where an inspector already has a DeFelsko body. Gauge set up will measure total salts	Flat surfaces or those with a diameter greater than 101 cm (40”)	Surfaces with a diameter equal to, or greater than 10 cm (4”)	Used for containing deionised water (wash fluid)
Benefits	Fast accurate and simple Advanced & Standard Gauge bodies can store readings for download to PC/mobile	Failsafe method of containing wash water Uses Plastic Needle, so safe for ‘no-sharp’ sites	Failsafe method of containing wash water Uses Plastic Needle, so safe for ‘no-sharp’ sites	Usually leaves no adhesive behind after removal
Disadvantages	Will only measure total salts, not individual chloride ions	None	None	None

Checking for salts in blasting abrasive

Using Chlor-Test Ki Using Chlor-Test Kit

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It is very important to assess the chloride ion (salt) levels in your blast abrasive before blasting. A high salt level can pollute the surface that was blasted and result in premature coating failure and/or rusting. Testing the salt levels will allow you to steer clear from having to blast the surface again or even having to completely re-do the entire project.

Testing for salt:

We offer an abrasive Chloride Test Kit that can be used with common abrasive blast media. The test kit only takes minutes to complete and will assure you that you will not be introducing salt onto the surface.

How to perform Chlor*Test Chloride Test:

Get a sample of the abrasive into the empty sample dish that is provided
Level off the sample
Pour sample into the extraction fluid
Shake abrasive and extraction fluid combination for two minutes in closed container
Let settle for 5 minutes
Snap off both ends of the titrator tube
Place rubber camp on top end of titrator tube to help suck up fluid
Wait until fluid gets to the top
Easily read the chloride level

Chloride Field Testing demonstration

This video demonstrates the 3 types of chloride testing:

ISO 11127-6 Water Soluble Contaminant test (starts at 00:55)
ISO 8502-6 Method of Extraction from the Substrate and ISO 8502-9 for Method of Measurement (starts at 04:33)
ISO 8502-15 Chloride Ion Specific test (starts at 07:47)

Why use surface contamination kits?

Surface contamination with salts drastically reduces the ability of a coating to adhere to a substrate. It can also be a starting pint for corrosion underneath a coating. Most liquid applied coatings have a certain amount of permeability and if water can get through to the substrate it reacts with salt to create corrosion. Using a surface contamination kit permits the detection of salts prior to painting. Contaminated surfaces will require washing down with fresh water to wash off any salts. Proprietary solutions are available for mixing with fresh water to improve the end result of the washing process.

Common set-backs with chloride analysis kits

Some older systems have more steps and are more awkward to use
Consumables cost with some systems
Investment required for systems that have limited ongoing consumables cost

Important considerations when choosing the right surface contamination analysis kit

There are two choices to be made when selecting a chlorides test – upfront investment or ongoing consumables cost and legacy systems or current generation systems.

Some systems, such as the DeFelsko SST, have more reusable components than others but require a higher upfront investment. Others such as the ChlorTest are largely comprised of disposable components. Your choice is between an upfront capex expenditure (and lower operating costs) or lower upfront costs and ongoing consumables cost.

You may have been using the same testing systems for years and getting satisfactory results or you may like to try the new generation of testing systems. The choice is yours – stick with what you know and are comfortable with or improve your process with the latest systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

The complete ChlorTest kit also includes tests for sulfates and nitrates. What are they? What sort of problems do they cause? How common are they?

Sulfates are produced by natural sources and are generated from stack gas and diesel emissions (oxidized from sulfur dioxide) and nitrates from diesel and auto emissions (oxidized from nitrous oxide). They convert to weak sulfuric and nitric acid in the atmosphere, when in contact with moisture. They are deposited on surfaces as acid rain. Chlorine and sulfuric acid are the two most widely produced and used chemicals in the world.

Nitrogen fertilizers, in their manufacture, transport, use and runoff, result in oxidized nitrates, another salt, which is corrosive on metallic surfaces. Even without human intervention, nitrogen is in a constant cycle, alternating between soil and atmosphere. Nitrogen is constantly available in the atmosphere for deposition, and lightning readily converts atmospheric nitrogen to nitrogen oxides,which can form nitric acid. These salts act in the same way as sodium chloride (common salt) to cause corrosion. While not as prevalent a problem chloride contamination, they can be a real problem in specific environments e.g. fertilizer plant.
What consumables are used in chloride testing systems?

For ChlorTest and SCAT tests, the entire kit is single use – both sampling and testing components. For the DeFelsko SST system the adhesive patches are single use (the PosiPatch is reusable), the needle tips, all other components are single use.
Can Chloride tests be performed on vertical and horizontal surfaces and overhead?

Adhesive patch systems can be used on in any of these situations, however, the swab method can only reliably be used on horizontal surfaces.
At how low a concentration level of chlorides can these tests detect contamination?

The ChlorTest can test as low as 5 parts per million (ppm), the Scat test 40 ppm and the DeFelsko SST, as low as 1 ppm. Measuring the chloride contamination of a surface is performed at very low concentrations, therefore the lower the detection capabilities the more accurate the result.

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Chlorides Measurement

Positector SST Acessories