history of HDG

The recorded history of galvanizing goes back to 1742 when a French chemist named P.J. Malouin, in a presentation to the French Royal Academy, described a method of coating iron by dipping it in molten zinc.

In 1836, Stanilaus Tranquille Modeste Sorel, another French chemist, obtained a patent for a means of coating iron with zinc, after first cleaning it with 9% sulfuric acid and fluxing it with ammonium chloride. A British patent for a similar process was granted in 1837. By 1850, the British galvanizing industry was using 10,000 tons of zinc a year for the protection of steel.  

Galvanizing is found in almost every major application and industry where iron or mild steel is used. The utilities, chemical process, pulp and paper, automotive, and transportation industries, to name just a few, historically have made extensive use of galvanizing for corrosion control. They continue to do so today.  For over 150 years, hot-dip galvanizing has had a proven history of commercial success as a method of corrosion protection in myriad applications worldwide.