New Kettle

After 10 years of hard service Hereford Galvanizers’ kettle has been put out to stud.  Its replacement was recently installed and should give the Company another 10 years worth of galvanizing.

Galvanizing kettles take quite a bit of punishment over the years what with the tens of thousands of tonnes of steel being processed in them and the powerful gas burners keeping their zinc contents at a consistent 450oC temperature.  Therefore, it is recommended, for matters of efficiency and safety that galvanizing kettles be routinely inspected and are replaced every decade.  Kettle changes are expensive undertakings and signify a commitment by the Company that it will continue to galvanize its customer’s steelwork for many years to come.

The kettle change was managed by our sister company Zinco UK.  They pumped the molten zinc out of the kettle, stored it whilst putting the new kettle in place and then pumped the molten zinc into the new kettle. And this was all done during a four day Easter shutdown which enabled us to back up and running on the fifth day.

The new kettle is the same dimensions as its predecessor : L 10.0 x W 1.2 x D 2.4 metres.  It should be noted that these dimensions are the actual kettle size rather than the usable galvanizing dimensions.  We can ‘double dip’ sections of up to around 15 to 16 metres long or well over 3 metres tall but it is always best to get in touch if you have a large steel section or fabrication to avoid the disappointment of it not fitting into our galvanizing kettle.