Bucon is a major producer of corrugated steel tanks which are widely used in the horticultural and agricultural industries. The company’s round and square tanks are made with Magnelis® from ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products to ensure their long life and durability. Now Bucon is exploring a new application for their tanks as low-cost housing for Africa. As well as being easy to construct, the housing units can be quickly adapted as family needs change and are fully recyclable at the end of their long life.

A key advantage

Bucon was founded in 2015 as a producer of corrugated tanks for the storage of water and other liquid products used in the horticultural industry. The initial design, known as BUCOtank®, features a traditional round design which is made from Magnelis® provided by ArcelorMittal Liège, Belgium.

“A key advantage of Magnelis® is that it can withstand the aggressive environments found in horticulture and agriculture,” notes Erik Passchier, CEO of Bucon. “For example, manure tanks are subject to high levels of ammonia.”

Magnelis®: zinc runoff to soil minimised

Another major benefit of using Magnelis® is the reduced level of zinc runoff to soil compared to hot-dip galvanised solutions. “Zinc runoff is a major concern in agriculture and horticulture, but Magnelis® stays on the steel,” says Passchier. “This was one of the main reasons why we chose Magnelis® on a strong steel (S350GD) substrate.”

Magnelis® is an affordable solution for Bucon’s horticultural customers notes Passchier: “In industrial applications, our tanks represent just a small percentage of the overall project budget. But in horticulture and agriculture they account for a much bigger percentage – margins are much lower. Our customers need affordable and long-lasting solutions. Something we can provide with Magnelis®.”

Tanks with Granite® HDX and BUCOsquare® tanks

Bucon also produces coloured tanks in either light grey or dark green. In these cases, the steel used is Granite® HDX from ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products. “We offer a light grey which matches the windows of greenhouses and is usually used inside,” says Passchier. “The dark green finish is mainly used in outdoor applications where it blends into the environment.”

More recently, Bucon has introduced a new range of tanks known as BUCOsquare®. The tanks feature rounded, angular corners which create a rectangular or square tank. The square tanks are ideal for greenhouse applications where they can fit in with the shape of the building.

“Square tanks are only possible due to Bucon’s high-quality equipment,” explains Passchier. “Normally corrugated steel buckles when bent at the angle required, but our machines can bend the corrugated sheets tightly enough to create a ‘square’ corner.”

All of Bucon’s tanks are assembled using the company’s own patented bolt system. The system uses bolts and washers which have the same shape as the corrugated steel sheets they will join. This ensures much tighter contact between the sheets. As well as helping to prevent moisture penetration, the connection has a much higher tensile strength than can be achieved with normal nuts and bolts notes Passchier: “The connection can handle twice the tensile strength of normal bolts. That allows us to build larger or taller tanks safely.”

FLEXbuild turns tanks into homes

Bucon has adapted its square tank designs to create affordable housing units which can be modified or expanded to meet the changing needs of families. Known as FLEXbuild, the modular building system makes it possible to rapidly deploy a range of relatively inexpensive and sustainable architectural solutions almost anywhere in the world.

“The basic elements of the houses are corrugated Magnelis® panels which are engineered to precision at our facility in the Netherlands,” says Passchier. “As we are located close to the port of Rotterdam, the buildings can be shipped almost anywhere. And when they arrive on-site, the structure can be assembled easily by people with very little construction experience.”

While the basis of the houses are corrugated tanks, they can easily be fitted with insulation or other materials to create a more aesthetic finish. They can also be painted with Bucon’s Adgreen coating which reflects ultraviolet light back into the atmosphere. This reduces the internal temperature of the building by up to 20°C.

Bucon relies on ArcelorMittal’s expertise whenever they have questions explains Passchier: “We’re always innovating, and ArcelorMittal’s technical people have a lot of knowledge about steel. Their answers are based on knowledge and numbers – they don’t make promises they can’t keep. And they strongly believe in long-term relationships and working together to find the best solution – both technically and commercially. What’s technically possible is not always commercial, but ArcelorMittal’s people understand this.”

About Bucon

Bucon Industries was founded in 2015 and began producing its first corrugated steel panels by the end of that year. To date, Bucon has produced tanks which are used to collect and store water, manure, and other liquids used in horticultural and agricultural applications. Bucon has a small staff of enthusiastic and highly committed people located in the heart of the Netherlands’ horticultural industry to the north of Rotterdam. Bucon’s tanks are sold and installed by a global network of authorised dealers and distributors.

More info: www.bucon-industries.nl

Text: ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products, Constructalia
Image copyrights: Bucon Industries

Magnelis® brings a touch of nature to your facades

Vegetal exterior walls, or “green walls,” are a great way to bring nature to the facade of buildings and give them a unique look. Green walls are designed either as aesthetic elements for interior or exterior décor - sometimes as works of art using plants or as elements of urban ecology. For instance, a green wall is one of the elements that makes the facade of the Musée du quai Branly in Paris so unique.

French company Tracer, a pioneer of vertical walls and vertical gardens in France, is a regular customer of ArcelorMittal Downstream Solutions’ agency in Chalon-sur-Saône. For their creations, Tracer orders ArcelorMittal construction products such as rolled steel sheets or aluminium, and especially Magnelis®, a flagship product of ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products.

Magnelis®

Magnelis® is an ideal product for building the metal frame of green walls:

•    Its properties and particularly its high resistance to corrosion makes it perfect for environments with permanent humidity (the presence of plants implying biological and microbial activity and micro-organisms)
•    It meets the standards requested by Tracer, which contributes to their CSTB* approval

*CSTB: Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (Scientific and Technical Center for Building)

Downstream Solutions delivers the Magnelis® steel sheets to Tracer, who then cut them to the right dimensions for their customers’ projects. Tracer also takes care of installing the sprinkling systems and the plants, selected with the project manager to meet the desired aesthetics thanks to a database of more than 300 plants.

About Tracer

Created in 1989, Tracer is a pioneer of vertical walls and vertical gardens in France. The company has a strong know-how in vegetal solutions with more than 17 000 m² of vegetal walls and facades created with their patented products (VertiFlore®, VertiBruit®). The company has a factory located in Dijon where all materials are manufactured.

They have realised green walls for many businesses such as shopping centres, office buildings, residential buildings, schools, supermarkets, and hotels.

Text: ArcelorMittal Europe
Photos: Tracer – système VertiFlore® / Irina Kzan / Shutterstock.com

Corrosion is a problem which costs our economy billions each year. While almost all materials are affected by corrosion, ArcelorMittal’s revolutionary new coating Magnelis® will ensure that steel solutions resist year after year.

Defined as a change in the properties of a material, corrosion affects all materials including wood, plastics, concrete and even stainless steel. Most often the term is encountered in connection with steel which, in its raw state, is susceptible to oxidisation.

Corrosion is caused by the interaction of a material with its environment which leads to a change in its properties. It can have negative effects both in terms of security and the costs of repair or replacement.

Typically the costs of corrosion accrue because it:

    - reduces the strength of a material (due to the reduction in its thickness) which can lead to failure
    - removes the application from service until repairs can be carried out
    - allows the contents of pipes and tanks to escape, causing contamination to the environment

While it is difficult to put a value on the cost of corrosion to the economy, direct damage (not including indirect costs of events such as environmental catastrophes) may be as high as 5% of gross domestic product (GDP). In the Benelux countries alone, this represents a sum of more than €50 billion.

The risk of corrosion depends on the environment in which a material is utilised. The corrosion risks of different ambient conditions have been classified in the ISO EN 12994 standard. The classifications start at C1 (non-aggressive environment) and go up to C5 (most aggressive). Distinctions are made between indoor and outdoor environments (see Table 1).

Improve security, reduce costs

The most common way to prevent corrosion in steel applications is by applying a coating to the steel. Today, sophisticated metallic coatings are available which can slow the progression of corrosion dramatically (see Figure 1).

All metallic coatings protect the steel in two ways:

    By providing a barrier between the steel and the corrosive elements in the environment.
    By exploiting the sacrificial properties of one or more elements in the coating (for example, zinc).

The sacrificial properties of certain elements have been exploited for many years. Steel-hulled ships typically have zinc anodes attached to the hull. The zinc corrodes more easily than the steel, forming an electrochemical barrier against the corrosive water in a process known as cathodic protection.

Overview of metallic coated products

The corrosion resistance of a metallic coating is not only defined by the thickness of the coating. Its chemical composition is also critically important.

Today, the best known steel coatings are hot dipped galvanisation (HDG) and electrolytic galvanisation. Electrolytic galvanisation offers a homogeneous and very thin coating which is utilised in indoor applications such as appliances, electronics and furniture.

The most widely used metallic coating is standard hot dip galvanisation (HDG). This is a pure zinc coating which is used in applications such as roofing, domestic appliances, cabinets, and electrical machinery.

Galfan contains zinc and 5% aluminium. Compared to HDG, galfan exhibits improved corrosion resistance thanks to the addition of aluminium.

Magnelis®: best corrosion protection, even on cut edges

ArcelorMittal is continuously researching new metallic coatings. The latest is Magnelis®. A metallic zinc coating, Magnelis® includes 3.5% aluminium and 3% magnesium and offers the ultimate corrosion resistance in the most aggressive ambient conditions.

The magnesium in the coating’s composition plays the key role in ensuring a stable barrier against corrosion across the entire surface, particularly in chloride- and ammonia-rich environments. Its improved corrosion resistance also means the thickness of the coating can be reduced.

The application of Magnelis® ensures the preservation of natural resources as it uses less zinc than pure-zinc coatings. Zinc runoff into the environment is also reduced significantly.

Unlike other metallic coatings, Magnelis® also offers excellent protection for cut edges thanks to its self-healing effect. A film of zinc magnesium chloride hydroxide forms on exposed edges, providing a protective coating against corrosion. This makes Magnelis® a very cost-effective alternative to batch galvanisation.

The effectiveness of Magnelis® enables ArcelorMittal to offer significant guarantees on the performance of this coating. Magnelis® is the first coating to offer 20-year guarantees against corrosion in marine applications. In less aggressive environments, guarantees of up to 25 years are offered.

While Magnelis® provides the best corrosion protection of any metallic coating available today, ArcelorMittal continues to search for new solutions. Future developments will certainly see the cost of corrosion decrease and extend the life of steel applications even further.

Text: ArcelorMittal Flat Carbon Europe