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One of the benefits of hot-dip galvanizing is that it is a very ‘green’ product. If your project is looking to lessen its environmental impacts by reducing waste, harmful emissions, and other adverse environmental effects, hot-dip galvanizing is a great corrosion protection option. Here are a few of the environmental benefits of hot-dip galvanizing: Recyclable & Infinitely Renewable Zinc and steel are both recyclable, meaning even at the end-of-life of a structure or product, the zinc can be reused for other purposes, reducing the amount of waste hot-dip galvanizing produces. In fact, 30% of the world’s zinc has been recycled, and steel is the most recycled resource in the world. Therefore, at the end of your project’s life, the galvanized steel can almost always be recycled and reused. This dramatically decreases the amount of waste that your project will produce. Additionally, zinc is an infinitely renewable resource. Zinc can be recycled without losing any of its critical chemical or physical properties. Both zinc and steel can be reused many times without losing their structural integrity. However, the longevity of hot-dip galvanized steel allows for the product to have a long life before it ever needs to be recycled. Zinc is Natural and Abundant Zinc, which composes about 98% of hot-dip galvanizing, is a resource that can be found naturally in many elements of the earth, including water, soil, and even the earth’s crust. Zinc is also essential to life on earth, and is a necessary mineral for almost every organism on earth to live. Because zinc is already abundant in the environment naturally, the use of hot-dip galvanizing does not introduce disruptive or harmful elements into the environment like other corrosion protection methods. Life Cycle Cost Assessment & Additional Benefits A products’ life-cycle cost assessment is a measurement of its impact on the environment throughout its entire life, from production to end-of-life. The LCA conducted using a wide variety of data over time for hot-dip galvanized steel found many additional environmental benefits. For example, all material inputs and emissions outputs are isolated to the production phase, most hot-dip galvanized structures require little to no maintenance throughout the project's life, and it does not use any additional materials after the initial production and installation.
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The Science of Corrosion8/7/2023 Hot-dip galvanizing is a great way to protect your steel from costly corrosion. But what is corrosion and why does it happen? The more we know about the science of corrosion, the better we can protect your materials against it. What is Corrosion? Corrosion is a chemical process that affects metals when they are exposed to elements such as oxygen and water. It causes degradation and eventually destruction to metals such as steel. Metals are rarely found in a pure state, they are usually found in chemical combinations with other, non-metal elements. These chemical combinations are referred to as ore. When those atoms are exposed to oxygen, the atoms on the surface of metal become oxidized, damaging the surface of the metal by reducing it back to an ore state. This creates unsightly rust and damaged material. How Does Hot-Dip Galvanizing Help to Prevent Corrosion? Hot-dip galvanizing allows iron or steel to be coated with a barrier protection of zinc. This protective zinc alloy becomes tightly bonded to the steel, creating a layered protection with a bond strength of around 3,600 psi. In addition to the corrosion protection in any environment, this alloy also provides excellent abrasion resistance that is harder than the steel, protecting it from any damage that might occur during the shipment or construction process It also forms a galvanic cell where the zinc corrodes rather than the iron, as well as other forms of protection It’s important to understand the science of corrosion to prevent costly and dangerous damage that can result from corroded metals. Additionally, the more we learn how to prevent corrosion, the longer steel products will last and allow it to be more environmentally sustainable. Hot Dip Galvanzing the steel used in your project can help protect against the financial and environmental costs of corrosion.
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Hot Dip Galvazning VS Mitalizing8/7/2023 Hot-dip galvanizing and metallizing are both great and effective ways to protect steel against corrosion. However, they do have some significant differences, and it’s important to know all the details before choosing a method for your project’s corrosion protection. We broke down the differences and the main pros and cons of each so you can make an educated choice. Galvanizing vs. Metallizing When metal is hot-dip galvanized, it is brought to a galvanizing plant. Here, the metal is cleaned, prepped, and then it is completely submerged into a kettle of molten zinc to form a uniform layer of corrosion protection by alloying with the steel. Thermal spray zinc, also known as metallizing, is the process of coating steel by transporting molten zinc by a gas stream to a properly prepared substrate. If you use metallizing, the zinc coating is sprayed directly onto the metal. Droplets cool, solidify and build up on the substrate into a laminar structure, forming a coating. Both of these methods have pros and cons. Pros and Cons One of the biggest benefits of using Hot dip Galvanzing as opposed to metallizing is the ability to apply uniform protection, both on the inside and outside of the steel. The complete submersion process of hot-dip galvanizing allows for corrosion protection both inside and outside of the metal structure. With metallizing, for small diameter tubes, only the outside of the structure can be reached and the application could potentially be uneven, especially in corners. Therefore, hot-dip galvanizing is often the best choice for tubular metals or steel with a complicated shape because of the uniform protection it provides. Also, hot-dip galvanizing has a higher adhesion strength and abrasion resistance thanks to the metallurgical bond it creates between the steel and zinc. However, the somewhat rough surface the process of metallizing creates allows it to have a higher unprocessed slip coefficient, and allows paint to stick better to the surface of unprepared surfaces. Also, in situations where the steel material is large and thin, metallizing is a ‘cold’ process and can prevent deflection. A common guideline is to hot-dip galvanize material that does not have deflection concerns and fits into a kettle, and metallize those that don’t. Another notable difference between the two is the location the process takes place. The hot-dip galvanizing process must take place inside a galvanizing plant, as the metal needs to be dipped in a specialized kettle, drained, and vented. With metallizing, the zinc coating can be applied at any location, with no draining or venting needed. This is a good option if the zinc coating needs to be applied on-site (referred to as field metallizing), or if the piece of metal being is too large to fit into a kettle. However, hot-dip galvanizing in a plant tends to be more economical all around. |
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