We owned a company that had 2 hot dip galvanizing lines. The process is the same today as it has always been. We galvanized iron pipe fittings and iron distribution hardware for the electricity grid. Much of this production has gone off shore due to environmental costs. Also, many formerly hot dipped products have been converted to zinc plating for cost savings (uses less zinc, cosmetically more appealing, but less protective). The grain structure of the hot dip finish is a function of solidification nucleation sites (pre plating treatment, bath temperature, and quench timing). Our company produced 250,000 pipe fittings per day, so the galvanizing lines were automated.
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