---
title: "Advanced High-Strength Steel"
url: "https://www.kolene.com/application/advanced-high-strength-steel/"
description: "Kolene® Oxigen-X® salt reacts with alloy-rich AHSS scale. In published tests on a silicon-manganese grade, it shortened the pickling needed for a clean surface."
site: "Kolene Corporation"
updated: "2026-09-25T03:58:11+00:00"
breadcrumbs: "Home > Applications > Advanced High-Strength Steel"
---

# Advanced High-Strength Steel

Faster Hydrochloric Acid Pickling for Alloy-Rich Scale

![Advanced High-Strength Steel](https://www.kolene.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/application_1.webp)

As advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) become stronger and more valuable, descaling and pickling them efficiently at the mill becomes harder.

Increased alloy contents can yield very complex oxide structures. As alloy stratification and concentration occur, pickling rates can decrease dramatically. Conventional hydrochloric acid pickling, effective for decades, is less so when these alloy-rich strata are encountered.

To solve these production issues, we have been developing ancillary descaling processes that help eliminate high-alloy pickling bottlenecks. Kolene® Oxigen-X® – in conjunction with hydrochloric acid pickling – can increase pickling rates on alloy-rich scale.

When Oxigen-X comes into contact with high alloy strata, it reacts with alloy oxides and forms alkali metal salts. Many of these salts are water soluble; remaining residues are freely soluble in conventional hydrochloric acid pickling. In published laboratory tests on hot-band samples of a silicon-manganese AHSS, an optimized Oxigen-X conditioning step between a hydrochloric acid pre-pickle and post-pickle produced a clean, scale-free surface with 30 seconds of total pickling; 60 seconds of pickling alone did not.

[Our labs](https://www.kolene.com/service/lab-services/) are available for sample processing of your alloy coupons with our Oxigen-X process. Contact us to discuss Oxigen-X availability and process fit for your steel grade.

Equipment

[Metal Descaling](https://www.kolene.com/equipment/cleaning-systems/#metal-descaling-systems)

Literature

[Improved Descaling Method for Advanced High-Strength Steels (AHSS) Using Fused Conditioning Salt (Iron & Steel Technology article)](https://www.kolene.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/29_Kolene_OxigenX_Iron_and_Steel_Article.pdf)

[Corporate Overview](https://www.kolene.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1_Corporate_overview.pdf)

[Process and Environmental Overview](https://www.kolene.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2_Process_and_Environmental_Overview.pdf)

Products

Oxigen-X®

[Play video for Advanced High-Strength Steel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEvNTHCotzo)

Have parts like these? Tell us the alloy, the coating or residue, and your volume, and we will recommend the salt and equipment for the job.

[Contact us](https://www.kolene.com/contact/?interest=Unsure)

KOLENE® and OXIGEN-X® are registered trademarks/service marks of Kolene Corporation.