Zinc

Zinc, also known as spelter, is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2. Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in the Earth's crust and has five stable isotopes. The most exploited zinc ore is sphalerite, a zinc sulfide.

Properties of Zinc

General Properties

Chemical Properties Most zinc production is based upon sulfide ores. These are roasted in industrial plants to form zinc oxide, ZnO. This may then be reduced with carbon to form zinc metal.

Zinc burns in air at high red heat with evolution of white clouds of the zinc oxide.

Physical Properties Zinc is a bluish-white, lustrous metal. It is brittle at ambient temperatures but is malleable at 100 to 150C. It is a reasonable conductor of electricity. The density of zinc is 7.140 g/mL, which means the metal will sink in water and is relatively heavy.

Applications of Zinc Alloys:

Zinc Coatings on Steel One of the biggest uses of zinc is in making protective coatings for steel. The development of the wide range of zinc coatings arose from two happy accidents of chemistry, the relatively slow and predictable rate of atmospheric corrosion of zinc compared with steel, and the relative positions of zinc and iron in the electrochemical series. Zinc will corrode preferentially to give cathodic protection to iron when both are in contact in an aqueous medium. This is used to good effect to protect immersed structures such as ships hulls, drilling rigs and pipelines. It also means that any bare areas in a zinc coating on steel, caused by damage or operations such as cutting or drilling, are still protected by the surrounding zinc. Other Zinc Coatings Originally, zinc coatings were applied by hot dip galvanizing. This involves dipping prepared steel in molten zinc, This was done mainly with fabricated steel or with sheets of steel, many of which were profiled to produce the ubiquitous corrugated iron. The first development from this was the production of continuous strip steel with a galvanized coating. Refinements of this process today account for the greatest part of the total tonnage of steel carrying zinc coatings.

Figure 1. Hot dip galvanising of fabricated steel.

Other processes are available and are used where their specific characteristics are required. These include electroplating (also known as electrogalvanizing), flame sprayed coating, sherardising, mechanical plating and using zinc rich paints. Recent Zinc Galvanising Alloys Process developments in continuous galvanizing have enabled a range of coatings to be produced with very closely controlled thickness and surface finish. These can be formed and joined without significant damage to the protective coating. Along with these developments, a series of alloys for coatings have been produced. The most important of these are Galvalume and Galfan. Galvalume consists of about 55% aluminium and 45% zinc with a small amount of silicon. It is being used extensively around the world as it has better atmospheric corrosion resistance than pure zinc however, it loses the ability to protect any exposed steel such as that at cut edges. Galfan is a zinc, 5% aluminium alloy containing small amounts of rare earth metals which has a substantial and growing niche market in which its properties are valuable. Its corrosion resistance is better than that of zinc and it retains some cathodic protection capability. Automotive Improved coatings have encouraged the development of new applications. For example, galvanized steel with a very fine surface finish is used to produce the parts of car bodies that are vulnerable to corrosion. The surface finish of the coated steel is such that there is no visible difference in appearance after painting between panels with and without the zinc protection. Such applications have been cited as a major factor in the market for zinc. In fact, their importance is much less than that of the building and construction industries. Building and Construction Industries Building and construction industries use at least two thirds of all the coated steel strip produced, mainly for roofing and cladding of commercial and industrial buildings. Much of the material used in building has a mill-applied organic coating on top of the zinc. Buildings in this colour coated steel are a familiar sight, particularly in out-of-town shopping centres and industrial estates. Colour coated steel can provide lifetime protection for such buildings. More recently, the use of galvanised steel in domestic buildings has grown considerably. The traditional method of building in much of Europe is to use solid brick or block exterior plus internal walls. This is in contrast to North America and Australia, where timber framing has been the most common form of construction. With the increasing cost of timber, there is a substantial move towards the use of steel frames formed from galvanised steel strip, for both the external walls and the internal partitions. This also takes advantage of the fact that the steel does not warp or rot. The same interest extends to products such as window and door frames and, providing they can be made visually acceptable, to roofing and cladding.

Hot Dip Galvanising Hot dip galvanizing in its original form (as applied to fabricated steelwork) is also a growing industry. That is not true of many industries that are more than 150 years old and still recognisable to someone from that era. The reasons for the processs continued success are in the intrinsic relationship between iron and zinc, improved organisation of the handling of work in the plant and, most importantly, a better appreciation of the economics of corrosion protection. As these factors are better understood by design engineers, the tonnages of steel galvanized have risen steadily. In Europe the total annual tonnage rose from 3.6 million tonnes in 1983 to 4.6 million tonnes in 1996 and the trend continues. Zinc Castings Another growth area is that of zinc castings, which is based on new alloys and new technology. Until the 1930s there were only two zinc casting alloys of any commercial significance zinc-4% aluminium pressure die casting alloys with and without 1% copper. Zinc casting now has a family of alloys - the specifier can choose the alloy and casting process most suited to their product. Zinc alloy castings are unique, particularly when produced by the pressure die casting process. They can be made to extremely close tolerances, with excellent surface finish, have a range of useful mechanical properties (especially ductility) and can receive a wide range of applied finishes. As a result, zinc castings find a range of applications from automobiles to zip fasteners. Competition from plastics threatened the market for zinc castings in the 1970s, but the development of new alloys and dramatic improvements in process control enabled zinc castings to hold their own in many areas, particularly where strength and applied finishes are required. A further benefit of the process improvements was that castings could be made much thinner so that considerably less metal was used for a given product. This in turn meant weight saving, (a valuable point, particularly in automotive applications), while at the same time quality and consistency improved and production costs were reduced. So although far more castings are produced today than, say, 15 years ago, this is not reflected in the tonnage of zinc used in casting.

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