Prone to Rust and other damages, #steel (whether coils, billets, etc.) require skilled inspection – keen and thorough.
In some instances where rust is evident and widespread, it is paramount to carry out silver nitrate #testing. This test checks for chloride ions, thus, providing an indication of the likely source of rust – depending on the test result. With a dropper bottle, a small amount of the silver nitrate solution (interest being the silver ion, Ag+) is applied to exposed surfaces of any accessible steel products. If there are chlorides ions (Cl–) present, the solution will react and form a milky/whitish, precipitate: AgNO3+HCl ->AgCl (whiteppt.)+HNO3. It is a reliable indicator of the likely source of rust because the intensity and amount of precipitate formed depend on the concentration of chloride ions. Higher concentrations of silver and chloride ions will produce more precipitate.
Besides rust, steel cargo gets bent, scratched or unwound (for coils) with handling operations, say during vessel loading and/or discharge, stacking at the quayside or yard, truck loading and offloading. Hence, caution should be exercised during handling.
Lastly, short-landing is a real nightmare with steel cargo! #Tallying during discharge is very key and calls for a keen eye with un-diverted attention. Distracted minds many times lead to errors. Another likely cause of errors in #Tallying is multitasking occasioned by insufficient staff that are compelled to handle more than one busy ‘gangs’.
In all the above, the importance of #skilled #surveyors cannot be over-emphasized.
