Annual production of hot-dip galvanized photovoltaic brackets Environmental assessment

What is hot-dip galvanising (HDG)?

The hot-dip galvanising (HDG) method is one common and effective solution to protect steel structures from corrosion. The negative aspects of the galvanising industry include the intensive use of energy and primary zinc (Urtiaga et al., 2010).

How can the galvanisation sector reduce its environmental impacts?

Thus, one important challenge of the galvanisation sector, is to reduce its environmental impacts linked to the intensive use of energy and resources. 1.2. The hot-dip galvanising process and life cycle assessment In the literature, the environmental assessment of steel production has been studied using tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA).

What is a hot-dip galvanisation process?

System description of the hot-dip galvanisation process in scenarios 1 and 2. Within the HDG process the main stages were degreasing, pickling, fluxing, drying, immersion in the molten zinc bath and centrifugation (Ortiz et al., 2004). The main raw materials inputs are primary zinc and hydrochloric acid.

Does hot-dip galvanising protect steel structures from corrosion?

The durability of protection depends on the zinc layer thickness and the environmental exposure conditions (Kovalev et al., 2019). The hot-dip galvanising (HDG) method is one common and effective solution to protect steel structures from corrosion.

Are galvanised steel components a hot spot for high-quality timber production?

Cambria and Pierangeli (2012) identified the hot spots of high-quality timber production from a dedicated walnut tree plantation that includes galvanised steel components for plants protection.

Which impact categories affect steel production compared to galvanisation?

The results in Fig. 3 show that the impact categories ADP-fossil, AP, GWP, MAETP and POCP had a much greater contribution to steel production than galvanisation, which is more strongly influenced by ADP-elements, toxicity categories and ODP.