AZZ Galvanizing fights corrosion

Nov. 1, 2010
AZZ Galvanizing Services, a U S hot-dip galvanized company, has 33 locations, Joe Langemeier said. He said corrosion costs the US economy almost $300

AZZ Galvanizing Services, a U S hot-dip galvanized company, has 33 locations, Joe Langemeier said.

He said corrosion costs the US economy almost $300 billion annually, with the solution being hot-dip galvanizing as provided by AZZ Galvanizing Services.

AZZ has provided cost effective, maintenance-free, environmentally safe corrosion protection for over four decades, introducing unique processes such as GALVXtra to deal with the challenges of today's competitive standards.

AZZ serves a wide variety of markets, including electric utilities, industrial, OEMs, transportation, petrochemical, and agricultural.

Langemeier said hot-dip galvanizing contains no VOCs — zinc and steel are 100% recyclable, and 30% of all zinc used comes from-recycled by-product. The process:

  • Preparation

    As the steel products arrive at the plant, they are thoroughly inspected for drainage and venting requirements. In the staging area, an efficient handling method is chosen to transport the material through the initial cleaning process.

  • Cleaning

    The material is cleaned in three steps: total immersion in a hot alkali solution to remove organic compounds; acid pickling removes rust or scale; and fluxing eliminates oxides from the surface of the steel and promotes the proper metallurgical bonding of the zinc in the next step.

  • Hot-dip galvanizing

    The steel is totally submerged in a bath of molten zinc until it reaches bath temperature (approximately 840° F), at which time the zinc reacts with the steel to form zinc/iron intermetalic layers on all surfaces, inside and out.

  • Quality inspection

    The galvanized steel product is cleaned, weighed and then thoroughly inspected for coating thickness, appearance and compliance with applicable ASTM specifications. Calibrated instrumentation insures efficient inspection.