Stage 1 - Pretreatment

The steelwork to be galvanized is first degreased to remove cutting lubricants, drilling fluids or other mild oils. Serious oiling or grease is manually cleaned off. After rinsing the steel is cleaned in dilute hydrochloric acid for several hours, rinsed, then immersed in a hot solution of flux. This zinc ammonium chloride solution assists the galvanizing process in the same way as welding or soldering fluxes. After fluxing the steelwork is dried prior to galvanizing.

Stage 2 - Galvanizing

The galvanizing process itself is relatively quick and simple to perform. Once the surfaces have been prepared they are mounted on a crane above the dipping vat and then placed in the bath of liquid zinc. The chemical process that takes place inside the vat is however quite complex. Suffice it to say that the molten zinc reacts with the iron in such a way that layers of zinc/iron alloy are built up around the article with a gradation of iron level in the layers, with the final layer being pure zinc.

Stage 3 - Quality Control

Before any goods leave the factory they are inspected and rigorously tested to make sure that they comply with all the relevant standards (e.g. BS EN ISO 1461 which specifies the weight of coating, BS EN ISO 2178 which specifies the magnetic testing of coating thickness). This is carried out by our quality control team.

Stage 4 - Packaging and Delivery

Once the goods have past the inspection they are carefully packaged so that they arrive at the customer's preferred delivery site in exactly the same condition as they left the plant.