Page 236 - Challenges in Corrosion Costs Causes Consequences and Control(2015)

214 CORROSION CONTROL AND PREVENTION

The cost of processing sheet steel into galvanized parts is dependent on the facility
and the cost ranges from $50 to $100/metric ton of zinc (R Leonard, Galvaniza-
tion Information Center, Personal communication, 1990). The total sheet galvanizing
sales were estimated to be $654 million.
The profitability of galvanizing is dependent on zinc commodity price and the
size of the market. The two growth markets have been identified by the American
Galvanizers Association. The first opportunity is the transition of utility poles from
wood to galvanized steel. The elimination of wooden poles in favor of galvanized
steel is estimated to add $200–300 million for the galvanizing industry.
Another growth market involves the use of galvanized metal studs for home con-
struction. This aspect is connected with the home-building industry, which is related
to the general prevailing economy.

4.2.2.2 Metallizing Metallizing may be defined as the application of a very thin
metallic coating over a substrate metal for either active corrosion protection (zinc
or aluminum anodes) or as a protective layer on stainless steels and other alloys.
Metallizing may be done by flame spraying or electroplating. Other advanced pro-
cesses, such as plasma arc spraying, can be used for exotic refractory metals for very
demanding applications; however, advanced processes are not usually used for less
demanding applications such as corrosion protection.
There is a market for metallizing anodes and it ranges from $5 to 10 million, which
continues to grow following the recognition by government and industrial agencies
that life-cycle costs are of importance (Metallized coatings supplier, Personal com-
munication, 2000.).

4.3 METALS AND ALLOYS
Corrosion-resistant alloys are used where corrosive conditions are severe enough
to prohibit the corrosion prone carbon steels and where protective coatings provide
insufficient protection or are economically not good enough. The total cost for these
alloys used in corrosion control applications is $8.3 billion with $7.9 billion for stain-
less steels, $0.28 billion for nickel-based alloys, and $0.15 billion for titanium alloys.
According to the US Census Bureau of Statistics, a total of 2.5 million metric
tons of raw stainless steel was sold in the United States in 1997 (11) at an estimated
production cost of $5.5 billion. About 25% of the US market is imported and the
total consumption in the United States is estimated to be $7.5 billion. The amounts
of stainless steel products consumed are given in Table 4.7.
The stainless steel consumed consists of sheet and strip, plate, bar, and pipe and
tube. The data given in the table show that the transportation industry accounts for
23.8%, with the food equipment and construction sectors at 15.3% and 14.2%, respec-
tively. It is interesting to note that the oil and gas sector and chemical sector only had
1.4% users.
In highly severe environments nickel-based and titanium alloys are used.
Nickel-based alloys are extensively used in oil production and refinery, and the