Keywords
Citation
(2000), "Metal finishing record", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 47 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2000.12847dab.006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2000, MCB UP Limited
Metal finishing record
Keywords Worksop Galvanizing, Metal finishing, Galvanizing
Worksop Galvanizing Ltd informs us that it has entered the new millennium by setting a new record for the metal finishing industry.
The company has recently completed commissioning a 21-metre bath or "kettle" (Plate 1) - a key piece of equipment in the hot dip galvanizing process - which it believes is the longest in the UK.
Plate 1 The
new hot dip galvanizing bath being lowered into position at Worksop
It holds 600 tonnes of molten zinc heated to 450°C. Iron or steel components being treated are immersed in the bath. This forms a metallurgically bonded coating that gives the metal a long corrosion and maintenance free life.
The new record-length bath is 1.5 metres wide by 2.78 metres deep. It is constructed of special steel 51 millimetres thick and weighs 70 tonnes. Its installation "against the clock" over a four-day period demanded meticulous planning and massive megalift hydraulic jacks had to be used.
The company reports that for the first time it is now possible for customers to have work of up to about 20.75 metres long galvanized in a single dip, a requirement often specified by designers, or 29 metres by double dipping, depending on section depths. Even the longest lengths of steel transportable by road can now be treated by the hot dip process.
The new bath at Worksop Galvanizing Ltd, is a major part of a £1.5 million investment which the parent Wedge Group Galvanizing has been making to enlarge and redevelop the Claylands Avenue site where a 45-strong workforce specialise in large structural steel and long work such as lighting columns.
This new state-of-the-art galvanizing furnace has been supplied and installed by Hasco Thermic Ltd, of Oldbury, West Midlands.