Often metal products stored externally for less than a year, reveal themselves to be rust-covered scrap within a matter of months, due to insufficient protection. Long storage times have been the demise of many businesses. But there is an alternative, thanks to a method that enables corrosion-free storage over several years – through specialist packaging!
Ferrous metals and steels are characterised by outstanding properties: they are normally strong and temperature-resistant, yet can be shaped into any form and can be joined onto other shaped pieces with welded seams, rivets or adhesives. Corrosion is the only thing that gets to ferrous metals: Water and oxygen are all that’s needed for an electrochemical reaction on the metal and then the rust begins. Nowhere is this the case as extreme as in external or open storage: rain, hail, snow, wind, UV-rays and constantly changing temperatures pose a huge danger.
Only special alloys, for example category V4A steel, defy such danger in the long term. Externally stored products containing ferrous metals that have no corrosion protection or are simply oiled, painted, powder-coated or galvanised require special protection for sustained corrosion resistance. Because simple moisture-inhibiting packaging doesn’t work due to the mere condensation of water from the air, special packaging that literally has protection “built in” is required: Thanks to VCIs (Volatile Corrosion Inhibitors), packaging and corrosion protection can be combined in an intelligent manner. For this purpose Zerust integrates its high-quality, corrosion-inhibiting VCI agents into the respective base material used in the packaging.
Once the goods have been packaged in the appropriate VCI product, the VCI agents are emitted in gaseous form; they diffuse into every space within the closed packaging and form an invisible protective layer on all metal surfaces. Thus neither moisture nor oxygen is in direct contact with the metal surface therefore there is no damage to the oxide coating meaning no corrosion! The highlight: Zerust’s gaseous corrosion protection even reaches and protects hollow spaces from rust. And even briefly opening the packaging will not have any negative consequences, as the VCI protective atmosphere regenerates itself. If the Zerust agents remain in the VCI packaging as intended, corrosion protection lasting decades can be ensured – even under extreme conditions in external storage.
