HOW DRY ICE BLASTING WORKS

Dry ice blast cleaning is a process in which particles of solid carbon dioxide, commonly known as dry ice, are propelled at high velocity to impact and clean a surface. Upon impact, the CO2 particles return to their natural state as carbon dioxide gas, thus disappearing as they clean. Although it is often compared to sand blasting, bead blasting, or soda blasting, dry ice actually cleans differently. Traditional abrasive blasting methods clean through a chiseling action, much like using an ice pick, but often take away part of the substrate as well. Dry ice, on the other hand, might better be compared to a spatula as it lifts away the contaminant.

The dry ice pierces the contaminant but sublimates instantly upon striking the substrate beneath. This sublimation creates a compression tension wave between the coating and the substrate with enough energy to overcome the bonding strength of dry, brittle contaminants (paint, for instance) and literally pop them off from the inside out. When removing malleable or viscous coatings such as oil or wax, the cleaning action is a flushing process similar to high pressure water. When the particles hit, they compress and mushroom out, creating a high velocity snow flow that flushes the surface clean leaving no residue behind.

BENEFITS OF DRY ICE BLASTING

The benefits of dry ice blasting are numerous. They include:

Decreased downtime through CIP (Clean In Place)
Faster, more thorough cleaning
Elimination of equipment damage
Reduction or elimination of solvents
Reductions in waste disposal