The hot dip galvanizing process

Technical seminar
 The hot dip galvanizing process

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Degreasing Hotcaustic

Pickling Hydrochloricacid

Prefluxing Zincam.chloride

Hotdipgalvanizing Moltenzinc

Quenching Dichromate
 The hot dip galvanizing process

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Thesteelitemsneedtobesupportedduringthehotdip
galvanizingprocess.

Cantheitembeeasilyjigged?
Willtouchmarksbeaproblem?

Solutionsandmoltenzincmustbeabletoflowintoall
sectionsanddrainoffallsections.

Steelitemsmustbedesignedtopreventair,solutions
andmoltenzincbecomingtrapped

Checkdesignforpossibleproblems
 The hot dip galvanizing process

Degreasing

Ahot(90oC)causticbathisusedtoremove
Oil,grease,paintanotherorganiccompounds
Ifthesecontaminatingmaterialsarenotremoved,the
nextstageoftheprocess(pickling)isaffected

Checkifanypaintisonitemsomepaintsarenoteasily
removedandmayrequireabrasiveblastingbefore
galvanizing

Somepipesandpipefittingshaveablackvarnishcoating
thatcannotberemovedinthecausticbath.
 The hot dip galvanizing process

Acidpickling

Thesteelitemsareimmersedinhydrochloricacidto
removerust,millscaleandothermetaloxides

Thesteelsurfacemustbeperfectlycleanoftheseoxides
forthemoltenzinctoreactwiththesteel

Veryheavyrustmaynotbeeasilyremovedbypickling
badlyrusteditemsshouldbeabrasiveblastedor
mechanicallycleanedfirst.
 The hot dip galvanizing process

Prefluxing

Steelitemsarewaterrinsedafterpicklingandimmersedin
hot(7080oC)zincammoniumchloride(ZAC)solution.

TheZACsolutionconditionsthecleansteelsurfaceready
forhotdipgalvanizing.

Goodpretreatment=goodqualitygalvanizing
 The hot dip galvanizing process

Quenching

Afterhotdipgalvanizedsteelitemisremovedfromthe
galvanizingbath,itisimmediatelyquenchedinasodium
dichromatesolution

Thedichromatequenchingcoolstheitemsothatitcanbe
quicklyhandledandpassivatesthesurfaceofthe
galvanizedcoatingtomaintainitsbrightappearance.
 The hot dip galvanizing process

Hotdipgalvanizing

Thesteelisimmersedinmoltenzinc(temp4500C)
Thecleansteelsurfacereactswiththemoltenzinctoforma
zincironalloywhichisverystronglybondedtothesurface.

Thehotdipgalvanizedcoatingformsin35minutes,
dependingonthesteelthickness.

Freezinclayer
Galvanizedcoating Alloylayers

Steel Micrograph100X
 The hot dip galvanizing process

Quenching
Afterhotdipgalvanizedsteelitemisremovedfromthe
galvanizingbath,itisimmediatelyquenchedinasodium
dichromatesolution

Thedichromatequenchingcoolstheitemsothatitcanbe
quicklyhandledandconditionsthesurfaceofthe
galvanizedcoatingtomaintainitsbrightappearance.

Dichromatequenchingwillreducewhiterustingproblems.
Whiterustformswhenrainwaterreactswithnewly
galvanizedsteeltoformzinchydroxide.

PoorstorageorHDGsteelwillalsopromotewhiterust.
 The hot dip galvanizing process

Characteristics

Typically65150micronsthick(1mm=1000microns)

Zincironalloylayersmakeup80%100%ofthe

coating.

Thezincironalloylayersareharderthan250gradesteel

Zinc

Zincironalloys

Steel
Micrographofhotdipgalvanizedcoating
 The hot dip galvanizing process

Coatingcomparisons
Comparedtozincelectroplating(ZEP)andcontinuous
galvanizing(CG),hotdipgalvanizing(HDG)isbetter
because..
HDGisthickerandwilllastover50yearsormore
withoutrusting
HDGisharderandis5timesmoreabrasionresistant
thanZEPandCG
HDGcoatsallexternalandinternalsurfacesand
edges.AllCGcoatingshavecut,exposededges
afterprocessing.
 Coating thickness of coatings on
galvanized products

100
Coating thickness - microns

90

Z350 Gal. sheet

80

HDG Heavy
70
Electroplating
60
50

HDG Light
40
30
20
10
0
 The hot dip galvanizing process

Zinc cost versus surface area versus zinc pickup

Zinc price 2.00/kg

2 3 5 5 10 15 20

128 85 51 51 26 17 13

57 38 23 23 11 8 6
115 77 46 46 23 15 11
77 51 31 31 15 10 8
153 102 61 61 31 20 15
89 60 36 36 18 12 9
179 119 71 71 36 24 18
102 68 41 41 20 14 10
204 136 82 82 41 27 20
128 85 51 51 26 17 13
255 170 102 102 51 34 26

Good design reduces excessive zinc pick-up