Corrosion-resistant fuel tank

• US 7,575,647 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2006
• Issued: 08/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Revere Copper Products, Inc.
• Original Assignee: The Louis Berkman Company
• Inventors: Hesske, Nicholas R., Zamanzadeh, Mehrooz, Carey, Jay F. II
• Primary Examiner(s): WYSZOMIERSKI, GEORGE P
• Application Number:
  US11/528,769
• Publication Number:
  US 20070023111A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,056 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 148/530
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 35/262 Sn as the principal constituent
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 35/282 Zn as the principal constituent
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 15/01 all layers being exclusively metallic making layered metal workpieces by pressure cladding B23K20/22; making coatings with a metallic material characterised by its composition C23C30/00
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 15/011 all layers being formed of iron alloys or steels
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 15/013 one layer being formed of an iron alloy or steel, another layer being formed of a metal other than iron or aluminium
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 15/015 the said other metal being copper or nickel or an alloy thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 13/00 Alloys based on tin
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 18/00 Alloys based on zinc
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 30/00 Alloys containing less than 50% by weight of each constituent
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 30/04 containing tin or lead
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 30/06 containing zinc
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/0034 Details related to elements immersed in bath
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/0035 Means for continuously moving substrate through, into or out of the bath C23C2/00344 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/0036 Crucibles
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/0038 characterised by the pre-treatment chambers located immediately upstream of the bath or occurring locally before the dipping process
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/02 Pretreatment of the material to be coated, e.g. for coating on selected surface areas C23C2/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/024 by cleaning or etching
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/026 Deposition of sublayers, e.g. adhesion layers or pre-applied alloying elements or corrosion protection
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/06 Zinc or cadmium or alloys based thereon
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/08 Tin or alloys based thereon
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/28 : Thermal after-treatment, e.g. treatment in oil bath
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 2/40 : Plates; Strips
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 26/00 : Coating not provided for in groups C23C2/00 - C23C24/00
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 28/021 : including at least one metal alloy layer
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 28/023 : only coatings of metal elements only
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 28/025 : with at least one zinc-based layer
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 30/00 : Coating with metallic material characterised only by the composition of the metallic material, i.e. not characterised by the coating process C23C26/00, C23C28/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 428/939 : Molten or fused coating
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12708 : Sn-base component
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12715 : Next to Group IB metal-base component
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12722 : Next to Group VIII metal-base component
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12792 : Zn-base component
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12799 : Next to Fe-base component [e.g., galvanized]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12937 : Co- or Ni-base component next to Fe-base component

Abstract

A fuel tank that is at least partially formed of a corrosion-resistant coated metal that is coated with a corrosion resistant alloy. The corrosion resistant alloy is a tin metal alloy or a tin and zinc metal alloy. The corrosion resistant alloy may also include one or more metal additives to improve the coating process and/or to alter the properties of the tin or tin and zinc metal alloy.

Claims

1. A method of forming a corrosion-resistant metal strip for use in the at least partial formation of a petroleum receptacle comprising:

a) providing a metal strip having a top and bottom surface;

b) coating the top and bottom surface of said metal strip with a corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy by a hot dip process, said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy forming a multi-phase alloy upon cooling which resists corrosion by petroleum products, said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy comprising tin, zinc and metal additive, at least about 95 weight percent of said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy comprised of tin and zinc, said zinc content of said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy being up to about 30 weight percent, said metal additive including a metal selected from the group consisting of chromium, copper, lead, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, titanium and mixtures thereof;

c) forming a heat created intermetallic layer between said strip and said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy and,

d) controlling a coating thickness of said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy on said top and bottom surface of said strip such that the average coating thickness on each surface of said strip is up to about 1270 microns.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, including the step of plating a nickel layer on said top and bottom surface of said metal strip prior to said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy being applied to said metal strip, said nickel layer having an average thickness on each side of said metal strip of up to about 3 microns, said coating thickness of said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy being greater than the thickness of said plated nickel layer.

3. The method as defined in claim 2, said heat created intermetallic layer having an average thickness of less than about 3 microns, said heat created intermetallic layer including iron, tin and zinc.

4. The method as defined in claim 3, wherein said heat created intermetallic layer includes at least one additional metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel, titanium and mixtures thereof.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, said heat created intermetallic layer having an average thickness of less than about 3 microns, said heat created intermetallic layer including iron, tin and zinc.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein said heat created intermetallic layer includes at least one additional metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel, titanium and mixtures thereof.

7. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy includes at least one metal selected from the group consisting of magnesium, aluminum, manganese, lead, copper, chromium, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, titanium, or mixtures thereof.

8. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein said hot dip process includes at least partially immersing said strip into a molten bath of corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy.

9. The method as defined in claim 1, including the step of controlling the cooling rate of said hot dip coating to regulate the crystal size formation in the corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy.

10. A method of forming a corrosion-resistant metal strip that is used in the at least partial formation of a petroleum receptacle comprising:

a) providing a metal strip having a top and bottom surface, said metal strip having an average thickness of about 127-5080 microns;

b) coating the top and bottom surface of said metal strip with a corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy by a hot dip process to form a heat created intermetallic layer between said surfaces of said metal strip and said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy, said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy forming a multi phase alloy upon cooling which resists corrosion by petroleum products, at least about 90 weight percent of said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy comprised of tin and zinc, said zinc content of said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy being up to about 30 weight percent, said heat created intermetallic layer having an average thickness of less than about 10 microns and including iron, nickel, tin and zinc; and

,

c) controlling a coating thickness of said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy on said top and bottom surface of said metal strip such that the average coating thickness on each surface of said metal strip is about 2.5-1270 microns.

11. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein said heat created intermetallic layer includes at least one additional metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, lead, magnesium, manganese, silicon, titanium and mixtures thereof.

12. The method as defined in claim 11, wherein said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy includes at least one metal additive selected from the group consisting of aluminum, chromium, copper, lead, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, titanium and mixtures thereof.

13. The method as defined in claim 12, including the step of plating a nickel layer on said top and bottom surface of said metal strip prior to said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy being applied to said metal strip, said nickel layer having an average thickness on each side of said metal strip of up to about 3 microns, said coating thickness of said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy being greater than the thickness of said plated nickel layer.

14. The method as defined in claim 13, including the step of forming a heat created intermetallic layer between said strip and said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy, said heat created intermetallic layer having an average thickness of less than about 3 microns, said heat created intermetallic layer including iron, tin and zinc.

15. The method as defined in claim 10 including the step of plating a nickel layer on said top and bottom surface of said metal strip prior to said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy being applied to said metal strip, said nickel layer having an average thickness on each side of said metal strip of up to about 3 microns, said coating thickness of said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy being greater than the thickness of said plated nickel layer.

16. The method as defined in claim 10, including the step of forming a heat created intermetallic layer between said strip and said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy, said heat created intermetallic layer having an average thickness of less than about 3 microns, said heat created intermetallic layer including iron, tin and zinc.

17. The method as defined in claim 10 wherein said corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy includes at least one metal selected from the group consisting of magnesium, aluminum, manganese, lead, copper, chromium, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, titanium, or mixtures thereof.

18. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein said hot dip process includes at least partially immersing said metal strip into a molten bath of corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy.

19. The method as defined in claim 10, including the step of controlling the cooling rate of said hot dip coating to regulate the crystal size formation in the corrosion-resistant tin-zinc alloy.