Apply TRIZ to Improve the Molten Zinc Corrosion Tester in Steel Manufacturing

摘要

In order to study the mechanism of molten zinc corrosion on specific materials, a molten zinc corrosion tester was developed to simulate the working condition in a zinc pot. However, the tester may cause severe oxidation of zinc, which becomes dross floating on the surface. Once the dross accumulated to a certain level, the molten zinc became viscous and affected the movement of the samples. Based on the Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch (TRIZ) methodology and heuristic technique, this study improved the design of the tester so as to solve the oxidation problem. The objective of this study is to minimize the formation of zinc dross to be less than 2 kg in 2 days. After several attempts, the tester reduced oxidation of molten zinc successfully from 2.6 kg of zinc oxide every day down to 2.52 kg every three days. The improvement is 68 %, which is a very outstanding achievement.