This standard describes a simple method for measuring the relative corrosiveness of solutions used for chemical cleaning in a static system at temperatures below 93° (200°). The tests described are conducted with corrosion test specimens in the clean condition (i.e., no deposits). The tests consist of exposing metallic test specimens to cleaning solutions typically for 6 hours under controlled conditions. The test specimens are weighed before and after the test and the corrosion rate is calculated from the mass loss. Localized corrosion such as pitting is also evaluated. Procedures for test specimen handling and reporting the results for a better comparison of data among laboratories are also included.

Measurements of corrosion rates in cleaning solutions obtained by this method should not be extrapolated directly to predict corrosion rates for metal surfaces in an operating system. A number of variables encountered in the chemical cleaning of industrial equipment, such as the nature and amount of deposit, are not readily controlled and can affect corrosion of the materials exposed to the chemical cleaning solutions. The tests described in this standard are designed to exclude the variables that can occur when duplicating field conditions because these conditions are difficult to reproduce in the laboratory and can make agreement among different laboratories difficult to obtain. In laboratory tests, care should be taken to ensure that test conditions can be controlled and fully described, thus enabling them to be repeated in different laboratories. The measurements described in this standard give the corrosion rate of the metal under the conditions tested. Corrosion rates are useful for comparison of results among laboratories.