Abstract
Cost reduction of products is and will always be a key objective of industrials. However, it is well identified that the wiping process reaches its limits at high line speed in general and especially thin coatings. If wiping models predict that it is possible to reach 32-37 g/$m^2$ of pure Zinc at 180 m/min provided the nozzle to strip distance can be reduced to 6mm, the possibility to reach that process window industrially with sufficient robustness is debated. 3 key problems are reviewed and analyzed: Zinc splashing and liquid drop emissions of various forms, the production of skimming and the noise generated by the nozzles. The available data and models are firstly used to predict phenomena. Secondly, videos and pictures from the lines showing what really happens on the edges especially in case of a strip width change are analyzed. Whereas the predicted level of skimming to remove from the pot is expected very high, it turns out that the target may be very close to the full splashing phenomena and that the most critical industrial situation is related to strip specification changes. It is then expected that the industrial feasibility of the 32-37 g/$m^2$ at 180 m/min will depend strongly on the amount of incoming strip with the same width that can be processed continuously.