Dry Ice Blasting FAQ's
How does dry ice blasting work?
Dry-Ice (solid carbon dioxide) is propelled at high velocity to impact and clean a surface. Upon impact it lifts away the contaminant whether it is paint, dirt, rubber or plastic residue, release agents or other unwanted material. The dry ice sublimates, expanding to approximately 700 times its solid volume in what is effectively a micro explosion. The contaminants drop to the floor and can be swept away during routine maintenance. Because dry ice disappears on contact with the surface, no secondary contaminant is introduced. This allows manufacturers to clean in situ without downtime or disassembly. Jobs that once took hours or even days may now take only minutes.
How much follow up cleaning needs to be done afterwards?
Machinery requires no post-treatment cleaning, as is often the case with both sand blasting and solvent cleaning, and only the actual residue remains for disposal. As a result of the speed in which dry ice blasting removes contaminants, its users save substantial time. Its application time can be equal to or faster than both solvent washing and sand blasting, without the extensive post-application clean-up time required by both of the other methods. Cleaning costs can thus be directly reduced, as can costs associated with plant machinery downtime and lost production opportunity.
How environmentally friendly is it?
Dry Ice Blasting is one of the most environmentally friendly methods of surface cleaning, as it uses carbon dioxide produced as a by-product of other processes/industries. The dangers of toxic or polluting residues and wastes are eliminated and there is no more collection, treatment or disposal of hazardous waste in the form of used solvents or large amounts of contaminated sand.
What about the waste?
There are now fewer waste sites nationally that can accept contaminated or hazardous waste. Today's environmental issues and resultant legislation is only the beginning with the prospect of further legislation imposing even stricter regulations on general industry. Dry ice blasting provides industry with a means of meeting current and future legislation whilst at the same time saving themselves costs on solvents, labour, downtime and the early renewal of capital equipment. Elements such as environmental concerns, economic competitiveness and technology have converged, causing industry and government to re-evaluate manufacturing processes. Many companies have changed from traditional solvent cleaning to alternative methods in a move towards zero discharge. Companies worldwide are faced with new challenges as more and more emphasis is placed on providing environmentally safer and more cost effective ways of cleaning industrial equipment.
How does dry ice blasting work?
Dry-Ice (solid carbon dioxide) is propelled at high velocity to impact and clean a surface. Upon impact it lifts away the contaminant whether it is paint, dirt, rubber or plastic residue, release agents or other unwanted material. The dry ice sublimates, expanding to approximately 700 times its solid volume in what is effectively a micro explosion. The contaminants drop to the floor and can be swept away during routine maintenance. Because dry ice disappears on contact with the surface, no secondary contaminant is introduced. This allows manufacturers to clean in situ without downtime or disassembly. Jobs that once took hours or even days may now take only minutes.
How much follow up cleaning needs to be done afterwards?
Machinery requires no post-treatment cleaning, as is often the case with both sand blasting and solvent cleaning, and only the actual residue remains for disposal. As a result of the speed in which dry ice blasting removes contaminants, its users save substantial time. Its application time can be equal to or faster than both solvent washing and sand blasting, without the extensive post-application clean-up time required by both of the other methods. Cleaning costs can thus be directly reduced, as can costs associated with plant machinery downtime and lost production opportunity.
How environmentally friendly is it?
Dry Ice Blasting is one of the most environmentally friendly methods of surface cleaning, as it uses carbon dioxide produced as a by-product of other processes/industries. The dangers of toxic or polluting residues and wastes are eliminated and there is no more collection, treatment or disposal of hazardous waste in the form of used solvents or large amounts of contaminated sand.
What about the waste?
There are now fewer waste sites nationally that can accept contaminated or hazardous waste. Today's environmental issues and resultant legislation is only the beginning with the prospect of further legislation imposing even stricter regulations on general industry. Dry ice blasting provides industry with a means of meeting current and future legislation whilst at the same time saving themselves costs on solvents, labour, downtime and the early renewal of capital equipment. Elements such as environmental concerns, economic competitiveness and technology have converged, causing industry and government to re-evaluate manufacturing processes. Many companies have changed from traditional solvent cleaning to alternative methods in a move towards zero discharge. Companies worldwide are faced with new challenges as more and more emphasis is placed on providing environmentally safer and more cost effective ways of cleaning industrial equipment.
