How It Works?
Hot-dipping and zinc-spraying are well-established ways of protecting steel against rust. The zinc coatings are applied on steel as a means of providing cathodic protection. Cathodic protection arises from the zinc (the anode) sacrificing itself in favour of the base metal (the cathode). In this way the protection of the metal is guaranteed. Even when the zinc layer is slightly damaged, no rust creeps underneath. Traditional zinc galvanising techniques are difficult to apply on site, but ZINGA can be applied on site as well as in the workshop.
A paint forms a barrier to the air. But once the barrier is broken, rust will creep under the paint and will cause flaking and blistering. Most so-called zinc rich paints do not solve this problem, mainly because they do not contain enough zinc to ensure adequate cathodic protection throughout the whole layer.
ZINGA protects against rust in two ways :
– Active protection : galvanic protection (cathodic/sacrificial)
– Passive protection : protection by means of a barrier (zinc oxides/binder)
Active protection
Because it has 96 % of zinc (pure to 99.995 %) in its dry film, ZINGA provides excellent cathodic protection to steel. Different tests (3000 hours salt-spray test, mine water test, General Motors cycling test) prove that in very aggressive circumstances the zinc in ZINGA sacrifices itself, protecting the metal surface in a better way than hot-dip galvanising. (See test on marine buoys
p. 5.)
Passive protection
As the ZINGA oxidises, a layer of zinc salts slowly builds up on the ZINGA surface, offering a barrier protection. Next to this, a supplementary barrier protection is provided by the binder in ZINGA. The binder reduces the disintegration of the zinc.
ZINGA protects the underlying surface far better than any other zinc coating (zinc rich paints, zinc spraying, hot-dip galvanising).
ZINGA combines the galvanic characteristics of a zinc coating with the barrier protection of a paint. It offers an excellent active and passive protection due to the special zinc on the one hand and due to the barrier, provided by both the zinc oxides and the binder, on the other hand.