How to store and preserve steel? What to do if it rusts?

Choose a suitable site and warehouse
1) The site or warehouse for storing steel should be clean and well-drained, away from factories and mines that produce harmful gases or dust. Weeds and all debris should be removed from the site to keep the steel clean;
2) Steel should not be piled together with acid, alkali, salt, cement, and other materials that are corrosive to steel in the warehouse. Different types of steel should be stacked separately to prevent confusion and contact corrosion;
3) Large steel sections, rails, thick steel plates, large-diameter steel pipes, forgings, etc. can be stacked in the open air;
4) Small and medium-sized scraped steel, wire rods, steel bars, medium-diameter steel pipes, steel wires and wire ropes, etc. can be stored in well-ventilated material sheds, but they must be covered with tarpaulins;
5) Some small steel, thin steel plates, steel strips, silicon steel sheets, small-diameter or thin-walled steel pipes, various cold-rolled and cold-drawn steels, and expensive and easily corroded metal products can be stored in warehouses;
6) The warehouse should be selected according to geographical conditions. Generally, an ordinary closed warehouse is used, that is, a warehouse with a roof, a wall, tight doors and windows, and a ventilation device;
7) The warehouse requires ventilation on sunny days and closing on rainy days to prevent moisture, and always maintain a suitable storage environment.

Reasonable stacking, first-in-first-out
1) The principle requirement of stacking is to stack materials by type and specification under the condition of stable and safe stacking. Different types of materials should be stacked separately to prevent confusion and mutual corrosion;
2) It is prohibited to store items that corrode steel near the stacking position;
3) The bottom of the stack should be raised, solid, and flat to prevent the material from getting damp or deformed;
4) The same materials should be stacked separately according to the order of storage, to facilitate the implementation of the first-in-first-out principle;
5) The steel sections stacked in the sky must have wooden pads or stone strips underneath, the stack surface must be slightly inclined to facilitate drainage, and pay attention to placing the materials straight to prevent bending and deformation;
6) The stack height should not exceed 1.2m for manual operation and 1.5m for mechanical operation, and the stack width should not exceed 2.5m;
7) There should be a certain passage between the stacks. The inspection passage is generally 0.5m, and the exit passage depends on the size of the material and the transportation machinery, generally 1.5~2.0m;
8) The bottom of the stack is raised. If the warehouse is a sunny cement floor, it can be raised by 0.1m; if it is a mud floor, it must be raised by 0.2~0.5m. If it is an open-air site, the cement floor is raised by 0.3-0.5m, and the sand and mud surface is raised by 0.5~0.7m;
9) Angle steel and channel steel should be placed face down in the open air, that is, the I-beam should be placed upright with the mouth facing down, and the tip of the steel should not face up to avoid water accumulation and rust.

Protective layer of packaging boxes for protective materials
The anti-corrosive agent or other plating and packaging applied by the steel mill before leaving the factory are important measures to prevent the material from rusting. During transportation loading and unloading, it is necessary to protect it and not damage it, which can extend the storage period of the material.

Keep the warehouse clean and strengthen material maintenance
1) Before entering the warehouse, pay attention to prevent the material from being exposed to rain or mixed with impurities. For materials that have been exposed to rain or soiled, different methods should be used to clean them according to their properties. For example, wire brushes can be used for materials with high hardness, and cloth, cotton, etc. can be used for materials with low hardness.
2) After the material is put into storage, it should be inspected frequently. If there is rust, the rust layer should be removed.
3) After the surface of general steel is cleaned, it is not necessary to apply oil, but for high-quality steel, alloy steel plates, thin-walled pipes, alloy steel pipes, etc., after rust removal, the inner and outer surfaces must be coated with anti-rust oil before storage.
4) For steel with severe rust, it is not suitable to be stored for a long time after rust removal, and it should be used as soon as possible.