£300,000 investment completed

Citation

(2000), "£300,000 investment completed", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 47 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2000.12847bab.010

£300,000 investment completed

£300,000 investment completed

Keywords: Pillar-Wedge, Galvanizing

Lancashire based Pillar-Wedge Ltd reports that it has completed a £300,000 investment programme that it believes will accelerate processing times and increase handling capacity within the plant.

A key feature is said to be an automated conveyor system, 28 meters long, which carries metal from one work area to another, whilst at the same time ensuring it is kept at the ideal temperature for treatment.

The conveyor carries workpieces from the flux bath to the galvanizing bath, at the same time drying them and increasing their temperature to between 90°C and 115°C. This prevents moisture being trapped in hygroscopic crystals after the fluxing process and the heated metal can go straight into the galvanizing bath - quickly and smoothly.

Workpieces are suspended from the conveyor's overhead chain driven jigs. They are moved along through a drying pit, 3.5 metres deep and 1.5 meters wide, running beneath the whole length of the conveyor. This chamber is lined with mild steel, heated by gas burners and the temperature is maintained by four hydraulically operated lids.

The equipment has been designed and installed by Hasco Thermic Ltd. Both companies are members of the Wedge Group Galvanizing.

Wedge Group has also, at its Worksop site, installed a new "state of the art" galvanizing bath 21m long which became operational in January. The new bath is able to galvanize work in lengths up to approximately 20.750m in a single-dip process, or about 29m long by double dipping depending on section depths.

The new bath is supported by an up-graded pre-treatment line which will enable the capacity of this large galvanizing facility to be exploited, while maintaining high quality standards.