Dry Ice Blasting Industrial Equipment: From Start To Finish, Revolutionary Method Of Blast Cleaning

By Author: Ray Beauvais
Total Articles: 2
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In 1987, the process patents and licenses were purchased from Lockheed-Martin and the process of dry ice blasting was made available commercially. The methodology behind Dry Ice Blasting consists of shooting fragmented pieces of dry ice onto the surface of objects with compressed air between 30 and 100 PSI. This method is considered non abrasive because it generally does not harm the surface of objects as its being projected. Dry Ice Blasting is commonly used for industrial cleaning on machinery such as conveyer systems, food packing, foundry equipment, pharmaceutical equipment as well as the decontamination of nuclear instances.

From start to finish, the creation and application of dry ice has been a revolutionary substance that people have continued to find new uses for.

Dry Ice Creation

Dry ice can simply be defined as frozen Carbon Dioxide. Through a process called sublimation, Carbon Dioxide is frozen by decreasing the pressure of Co2 so that it bypasses the liquid state and moves directly into a solid state. This is the reason that it is called dry ice, because once it is frozen, it does not melt, ...
... it simply evaporates. Once the dry ice is developed into a solid state, it's then distributed by either blocks, cut blocks, standard pellets, dry rice pellets or 1/8 inch pellets.

Dry Ice Transportation

Contrary to the process of sublimation, the reverse process is called deposition. Deposition occurs when the dry ice comes into contact with the atmosphere and therefore causes the evaporation of dry ice. From the time it is created until used the dry ice will start to depose, so transporting dry ice in an insulated container with low air volume. Most dry ice suppliers will ship dry ice packages and fill up the container as much as they can with dry ice to decrease the air volume and get it to the customer as fast as possible. Extra precautions for dry ice transportation must be taken for smaller sizes of dry ice because of the small surface volume of the pellets.
Dry Ice Blasting

As mentioned above, dry ice blasting has become one of the most innovative practices of industrial cleaning in the world. Dry Ice blasting can use block and pellet dry ice but block dry ice machines have a tendency to require more effort while using. Dry Ice Machines that use pellets are generally made up of several components including a hoses to feed air and dry ice, a hopper for the dry ice and barrel or tube to which the dry ice is shot out of. Dry Ice Blasting can be contracted to industrial cleaners or done with a rental. Most rental machines are compatible with air compressors that have a pressure range of 130 CFM and 90 PSI.

Once the dry ice particles are shot out of the machine, they penetrate the targeted build up and evaporate on contact without damaging the surface of the object being cleaned. Dry Ice Blasting breaks up surfaces like old paint with the impact of high speed pellets and also effectively cleans viscous surfaces by compressing and expanding on impact to flush the buildup off. Because Dry Ice evaporates on impact it's safe to use on electrical, hot and working pieces of equipment as where most other kinds of sandblasting could damage them while hot or working.

Clean-Up

The clean up is the most desirable advantage of using dry ice blasting. As where there is an extensive cleanup process for sand, water and soda blasting, dry ice requires no cleanup except for what has been removed from the object being clean. The evaporation of dry ice on contact will leave no residue or condensation on objects. It is recommended that if cleaning hazardous waste like oil or sludge (something that could harm the surface below) to put down a sheet or tarp as a surface below to the object being cleaned for easier post blasting.

The technology of dry ice blasting is a profoundly easy concept that is changing the world with industrial cleaning efficiency and environmentally preserving practices.

Ray Beauvais is the owner of Minnesota based industrial cleaning business Midwest Dry Ice Blasting. Midwest Dry Ice Blasting offers commercial and industrial cleaning services and dry ice blaster rental to the greater Midwest areas such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Michigan and Illinois.