Researcher Finds Way To Turn Rust Back Into Iron

October 19, 1986|By John A. Callcott , United Press International

GRANDSON, SWITZERLAND — Turning rust back to iron is something scientists said could never be done. Impossible, they said, like the dream of ancient alchemists of turning metal into gold.

But an Englishman named Ian Ashdown thought otherwise.

''I thought that if iron gets rusty, why couldn't the process be reversed?'' he said. ''I was right.''

Now patents are pending on a corrosion-reversal apparatus likely to revolutionize the worlds of museum restoration and archeology when it goes into production next year.

Possible industrial applications may also mean rust-to-riches for Ashdown and the few who believed in him despite the scientific skeptics.

Ashdown's research and subsequent refinement of the rust-to-iron process was based on what is known as plasma chemistry, which removes corrosion without destructive mechanical and chemical scraping.

A corroded object is placed in a vacuum and electrically bombarded with hydrogen molecules, which react with the ferrous oxide, or rust. After several hours most of the rust converts to hard iron -- and the object is back to its original shape and size.

There is the same reaction but even better results with silver artifacts, because they return to their original silver color while iron remains dark.

''Our standard apparatus going into production next year is about the same size as a steamer trunk,'' says Eugene Heer, director of the Swiss Institute of Arms and Armor, where Ashdown did his research.

''Obviously, that limits the size of the object being restored. But we have plans for equipment large enough to handle much larger items such as cannons from the Mary Rose, the Tudor ship recently dredged up in England.''

So what about a rusty automobile?

''We couldn't give you a new car back,'' Heer laughs. ''But we certainly could make it safe if our equipment were big enough.''

Theoretically, a one-ton pile of rust could be turned into half a ton of iron.

''At the beginning, though, we are concentrating on archeological applications. Any industrial use is something for the future,'' Heer says.

One possibility is a mobile restoration unit that could be taken to an archeological excavation.

''That would protect an artifact from additional damage during transport because very often, a buried object erodes quickly when taken out of the ground and countless artifacts are simply rotting away in museum basements.'' Ashdown and Heer say the corrosion-reversal technique guarantees preservation and protection of any object for 50 years and they hope for 100 years -- against just three to five years by standard restoration methods.

Their process is also faster. Plasma-chemistry rust restoration takes 10 to 40 hours depending on the size of the artifact.

''By contrast, it can take months to remove a hard crust from something like a long-buried belt buckle,'' Heer says.

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