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Detailed Guide on Dry Ice Blasting

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Thompson Industrial Services
Detailed Guide on Dry Ice Blasting

Dry ice blasting is used across the globe as a solution for surface cleaning, surface preparation and parts finishing in a wide range of industries. It is a preferred method because it is non-abrasive, non-conductive, and non-toxic and does not create secondary waste. In this guide, you will get to know about dry ice blasting in details. Let’s begin!

What Is Dry Ice Blasting?

Dry ice blasting, or dry ice cleaning, is similar to sand, bead and soda blasting in that it prepares and cleans surfaces using a medium accelerated in a pressurized air stream.  It differs in that dry ice cleaning uses solid carbon dioxide (CO2) pellets or Micro Particles, accelerated at high velocities to impinge on the surface and clean it.  The particles sublimate upon impact, lifting dirt and contaminants off the underlying substrate without damage.

The dry ice blasting process has unique characteristics that differentiate it from other cleaning methods and other media blasting methods. The different dry ice cleaning methods are:

  • Non-abrasive
  • Non-conductive
  • Non-flammable
  • Non-toxic
  • Environmentally responsible

The dry ice blasting process does not create secondary waste.  The dry ice sublimates, or phase transitions from solid CO2 to gaseous CO2, when it impacts the surface being cleaned.  This eliminates the secondary waste stream that is created with other media blasting techniques.  The only remaining waste products are the dislodged contaminants, which can be vacuumed or swept away.

Dry ice blasting was originally developed to remove paint and coating from airplanes in the 1970’s.  The technology has been developed commercially by Cold Jet since 1986. Dry ice blasting is also known as CO2 blasting or cryogenic cleaning.

What Are The Applications And Uses Of Dry Ice Blasting?

  • For surface cleaning

Dry ice blasting is a non-abrasivenon-conductivenon-toxic cleaning method that does not create secondary waste.  It is used to clean many types of surfaces in a multitude of commercial and manufacturing settings. Surfaces of tooling, machinery and finished parts can all be cleaned with dry ice.

Dry ice cleaning has a wide range on the aggression spectrum from very aggressive to delicate cleaning.  The compressed air pressure, dry ice particle size and dry ice feed rate can be adjusted and dialed down to clean very delicate and sensitive surfaces, such as soft alloys, electrical wires and sensors.  It can also be dialed up to clean heavy and stubborn contaminants, such as asphalt, corrosion and weld slag.

  • For surface preparation

Dry ice cleaning can safely remove a variety of contaminants from parts, including oil, dust, release agents, fingerprints and more without causing surface damage.  Dry ice cleaning is a dry process and eliminates the need for aqueous or chemical solutions when preparing a surface for painting. Coatings and paint can be applied immediately after cleaning because the surface is left completely dry.  

  • For parts finishing

Dry ice cleaning can safely remove flash and burrs from a variety of materials: PEEK, PBT, Acetal, Nylon, LCP, ABS, UHMWPE, Nitinol and more. Due to its non-abrasive nature, dry ice leaves the surface undamaged and free of residual media. 

Conclusion

Therefore, after knowing about the basics of dry ice blasting, it will not be a problem anymore to work with it. Read thoroughly and start your work with dry ice blasting.

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