GALVANIZING

QA/QC DEPARTMENT
Corrosion
A big problem with metallic parts

Corrosion is nature's method whereby metals and alloys

return to their un-refined naturally occurring forms as ores
and minerals.

Fe Fe2O3, Fe3O4
Refined state Natural state
Protection Of Metals From Corrosion

Three main approaches:

 Modification of environment to which metallic parts are

exposed
 Alloy additions
 Protective coatings
Protective Coatings

Two types of protective coatings:

1. Protective organic coatings/paints

2. Protective metallic coatings
Protective Organic Coatings

Many paints, coatings and high performance organic

coatings have been developed as a need to protect
equipment from environmental damage.
Painting
 The paints applied on the surface of vessels; act as barrier
between air and moisture on one side and steel on the
other side.
 Paint is liquid material which when applied on a substrate
turns into a solid, adhering film that forms a protective
and/or decorative coating.
 Paints isolate the metal from electrolytes from environment.

Two important properties of barrier protection:

 Adhesion to base metal

 Abrasion resistance
Painting

The part to be painted contains mill scale, grease, dust,

oil, impurities, rust etc. All these things should be
removed. Before painting those parts are sand blasted
in order to clean them from all these impurities.
Painting
Three different layers of paints are applied on the
vessel:
1. Primers layer
2. Intermediate layer
3. Finish layer
 Zinc rich primers give the best protection and these are
dried rapidly after it has been applied.
 Zinc-rich paints contain 65-94% metallic zinc in the film of
the paint after it dries.
 The paints are usually applied by brushing or
spraying onto steel that has been cleaned by sandblasting.
 The thickness of the intermediate layer is about 100-150µm.
 The finish layer gives the decorative value the job.
 The paints are applied on the surface either by spray
method or with the help of brush.
Function Of Each Component
• Binder: determines film formation and general
performance of paints coating.

• Pigment: responsible for decorative value including color,

hiding power, gloss etc.

• Fillers: these are non-coloring pigments especially used to

influence some physical properties of paints.

• Solvents: especially used for viscosity and for application

properties. After the application these are evaporated.
 However not impervious to moisture, rust can occur underneath
even a perfectly applied paint if the exposure moisture is
sufficiently long or moisture contains corrosive chemicals.
 Iron oxide at scratch in painted layer
lifts the paint film immediately, allowing further corrosion.
Protective Metallic Coatings
 Provide a layer that changes the surface properties of the work piece to
those of the metal being applied. The coatings provide a durable,
corrosion resistant layer.
 Mostly used metals for protective coatings are zinc,chromium, nickel,
copper.
 Metallic coatings are deposited by:

 Electroplating,
 Electroless plating
 Spraying
 Hot dipping
 Chemical vapor deposition
 Ion vapor deposition
Metals As Protective Coatings

Metals protect steel in two ways:

 By barrier protection
 By galvanic protection
Barrier Protection

• Galvanized coatings form impervious barrier that does not allow

moisture to contact to steel.
• Galvanized coatings does not degrade with time as paint degradation,
however Zn is reactive material it corrode and erodes slowly.
• Freshly exposed galvanized steel reacts with
surroundings atmosphere to form a series of Zn
corrosion products

Zn + O2 (air) ZnO/ZnO2
(thin oxide layer)
Zn + H2O Zn(OH)2
(moisture)
Zn(OH)2 + CO2 ZnCO3
(thin, tenacious and
stable (insoluble in
water) layer
that protects underlying layer)
Zn oxide layer
Galvanic Protection

 Zn’s ability to galvanically protect steel

 Scratch in galvanized layer, exposure of steel and
Zn to atmosphere, Zn is corroded
Zn itself corroded and protects steel from corrosion.
Most Widely Used Metallic Coating
Methods

The most widely used metallic coating method

for corrosion protection is galvanizing, which
involves the application of metallic zinc to
carbon steel for corrosion control purposes.
Hot Dip Galvanizing

Hot-dip galvanizing is the most common process,

and as the name implies, it consists of dipping
the steel member into a bath of molten zinc.
How Do We Galvanize?

Galvanizing consists of three steps:

1. Surface preparation
2. Galvanizing
3. Inspection
Surface Preparation

 Most important step in application of any coating.

 Failing of coating before the end of its expected

service life due of incorrect or inadequate surface
preparation.

 Zn will not react with a steel surface that is not

perfectly clean.
Surface Preparation

Surface preparation before galvanizing consists of

three steps:

a. Caustic cleaning
b. Rinsing
c. Pickling
d. Rinsing
e. Fluxing
Caustic Cleaning

• Degreasing tank containing hot alkali solution (hot

water and detergents i.e. caustic soda, soda ash,
sulfonic acid etc.) to remove organic contaminants
such as oil, grease paint markings
Rinsing

Dipping into water bath to remove the effects of

caustic and pickling solutions.
Pickling

 Dilute solution of hot sulphuric acid (temp 60-

80C, 3-10% H2SO4) or hydrochloric acid (5-15C) at
ambient temp to remove scale and rust.

 To avoid over-pickling inhibitors are added to

pickling solution.
Finally the part is dipped into fused Zn bath. The
bath contains molten zinc at temp 445-465C.
Galvanized Layer
 A metallurgical bond b/w Zn and Steel
 A series of intermetallic alloys is formed (by inter-
diffusion)
Galvanized Layer

 Surface tension forces causes an outer layer of

molten zinc to adhere to sheet when it leaves the
molten zinc bath.
 Final product consists of steel core, with an
intermetallic alloy layer and outer Zn layer
 Intermetallic layer provides a high degree of bonding
between the steel and Zn outer coating.
 Unfortunately these alloys have very poor ductility-
flaking off Zn coating during forming processes.
 Using 0.15% Aluminum in bath to overcome this
problem
 Al has greater affinity for iron than Zn so immediately
(0.15 seconds) Fe2Al5 layer is formed known as
barrier or inhibition layer, which retards Zn reaction
with steel, however Zn diffuses through the layer and
a ternary alloy layer is formed composed of
(45%Al,35%Fe,20-35%Zn).

 The diffusion rate of Zn through inhibition layer is

very slow that results a very thin layer.

 However coated products can be bent without layer

cracking and loss of adhesion.

 Al addition also increases surface shining and fluidity

of molten Zn.
Coating Thickness

It depends upon following factors

 Bath temperature
 Base metal chemistry
 Time of immersion
 Section thickness
 Surface condition of steel
Steel Thickness Coating Equivalent
mass Thickness
5mm and over 600 gm/m2 84 micron

<5mm but >2mm 450 gm/m2 63 micron

<2mm 350 gm/m2 50 micron

Thicker Coatings = Longer Life

The galvanizing process naturally produces coatings that are at
least as thick at the corners and edges as the coating on the
rest of the article. As coating damage is most likely to occur at
the edges, this is where added protection is needed most.
Brush- or spray-applied coatings have a natural tendency to
thin at the corners and edges
Galvanized steel is suitable for high-temperature
applications of up to 392 °F (200 °C). Use at
temperatures above this level will result in peeling
of the zinc at the intermetallic layer
Duplex Coating System
 Paint and galvanized steel both are used together.

 Corrosion protection is superior to either protection system.

 Provide corrosion protection 1.5 to 2.5 times longer than the

sum of the lifetimes of zinc and paint used individually. For
example, if a galvanized coating is expected to last 40 years and
a paint system is expected to last 10 years, galvanizing and
paint together should last 75 years.

 Easy Repainting because of minimal surface preparation.

 Aesthetics- matching specific environment.

 Ease of Safety Marking & Color Coding

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THE END