Corrosion protection for the Middle Kingdom
A new metal pretreatment process is now being successfully applied in Hanghzou, China
With the Betenio process, Rio GmbH has developed a genuine innovation in surface technology to series production readiness. In a single step and in a single bath, steel components can be degreased, pickled and phosphated. This ensures highly effective and durable corrosion protection in a simple, cost-effective and space-saving manner. At the same time, the process ensures a high level of environmental protection and occupational safety, because the bath fluid normally only needs to be changed every twelve months, filter residues can be disposed of as household waste, and the personnel do not require any special protective equipment. The process can be adapted to the individual requirements of each application via the process duration and the concentration and precise formulation of the bath fluid.
Water-based coatings also interesting for China
These properties of the process attracted interest in China. There is currently great demand there for surface technology equipment because, according to the currently valid environmental protection regulations, only water-based coatings may be used in the future. Many industrial companies are therefore investing in new application and often also pretreatment equipment. In the Chinese region of Hangzhou, Rio has now recently built a Betenio plant for a well-known machine and plant manufacturer. Rio is present in China with its own subsidiary. In the case described here, very different machine components are treated - mostly larger hollow bodies such as pipes and housing turbines, but also sophisticated complex components such as compressor screws as well as parts for construction machinery, agricultural machinery and shipbuilding. Rio's engineers first extensively tested very different parts from this production program and defined the optimum Betenio formulation on this basis. At the same time, the use of water-based coatings was tested - in cooperation with Mankiewicz Gebr. & Co. a leading German manufacturer of industrial coatings. The results: In the salt spray tests according to DIN EN ISO 9227-NNS with cross-corrosion, the test specimens achieved service lives of well over 1000 hours without visible corrosion. The scope of testing included both bubble degree tests to DIN EN ISO 4628-2 and cross-cut tests to DIN EN ISO 2409, both of which also achieved very good results. Based on all these tests, Rio (for the anti-corrosion treatment) and Mankiewicz (for the water-based coating) finally received the user's approvals. Currently, the corresponding equipment is being installed in China. As the customer also has production facilities in the USA and Russia, the approvals were also granted for these plants.
► Rio Ltd.