Dry ice blasting machine - GIF

[Altair]

Dry ice blasting machine. An alternative to traditional media blasting, dry ice blasting is nonabrasive, nonflammable, nonconductive, and nontoxic.




Previously:

Wheel rim cleaning machine - GIF
TIG brush weld cleaning - GIF
Magnetic window cleaning tool - GIF

[Moby Duck]

I once employed some contractors to clean the inside of a ships main supply generator using this dry ice blasting. Generator windings were heavily contaminated with oil and carbon dust that had accumulated over about 20 years of use. It was a great success, the insulation was not damaged, and generator did not need to be disassembled. There were concerns about whether the CO2 would accumulate in the bilge and also about where all of the removed oil and gunge would end up. Gas levels were monitored but there was no measurable accumulation and it was concluded that the gas and contaminants were removed from the area by the ships normal ventilation system. The whole job was clean and fast and much better than washing out with toxic solvents. One large chilly bin of dry ice was all that it took to complete the job.

[Hoosiersmoker]

Working in a facility that does printing for paperboard products, we own one of these machines to clean the anilox / coating rollers and surrounding areas. The ceramic surface is undamaged by the pelletized dry ice preserving a $10,000.00 + roller allowing it to be used for many years longer than it otherwise would. We use it for interior deep cleaning also. In greasy environments it momentarily solidifies the grease and allows it to fall and not splatter all over. It has paid for itself numerous times and we will immediately replace it if it ever stops working. It does require high CFM compressed air (We use 1" hose hookups), not something you would likely be able to use in a small shop or home type situation effectively. We bought several tips for the gun as well. Make sure you have welding gloves to load and operate it, that gun is FROSTY!

[PJs]

Very Interesting, never seen this before...Cool! Thanks Moby Duck and Hoosiersmoker for the info. I would guess in a commercial application you would need a big screw compressor to handle that volume and pressure. I am curious though what it might do to metal structure, but would be nice for quick bearing installations.

[Hoosiersmoker]

PJs, unless the metal would be damaged by the air pressure itself, it would clean almost anything off of it without damage. We clean the covers to our machinery and have cleaned numerous machine parts with ours. You can dial down the pressure but it also reduces the effectiveness of the stripping action.

[Moby Duck]

Didn’t harm the insulation varnish even though there would been contraction of the copper wiring whilst it was all being cleaned. Other paintwork also blasted without any apparent damage. Contractor was a mobile unit and supplied his own compressed air from a compressor on a trailer. I don’t remember it being particularly big but as Hoosiersmoker says it probably used large volumes of air. Blasters of any kind, sand etc, also need lots of air.

[PJs]

The insulation on the wire was the first thing I thought of because coppers coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) is in the medium range (~17µ/C°). In small gauge wire that may be a concern for the coating but Don't know the Coeff. of it...obviously not a problem. Fine grain Ceramic has a very low coeff. and wouldn't see any issues. Cast AL, Fe (with higher Coeff.) might have some metallurgical issues perhaps with dry ice at -78C° under pressure and prolonged my create issues in stressed areas like pressed bearings or shafts.

You guys are the wizards of use here...my mind went rolling into the Netherlands. Thanks for the info.

PJ