Frequently Asked Questions about -Dry Ice Blasting?
Welcome to our Dry Ice Blasting FAQ page — your go-to resource for everything you need to know about this innovative cleaning technology. Whether you're new to dry ice blasting or looking to deepen your understanding, this section covers the most common questions about the process, equipment, safety, environmental impact, and industry applications. Discover how this non-abrasive, chemical-free method offers a powerful, eco-friendly alternative to traditional cleaning solutions.
1 . What is Dry Ice Blasting?
Dry ice blasting is a modern, eco-friendly, and non-abrasive industrial cleaning method. It involves propelling dry ice pellets at high speed using compressed air to clean surfaces, similar to other blasting systems.
2. How does Dry ice Blasting Work?
It combines kinetic energy, thermal shock, and sublimation. The dry ice hits the surface, lifts contaminants, and evaporates without leaving secondary waste—unlike methods such as sandblasting.
3. What is Dry Ice?
Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide (CO₂) at -79°C. It's non-toxic, odorless, and commonly used in food and beverage applications for carbonation and preservation. Dry ice does not melt, it sublimates—changes directly from a solid to a gas without becoming liquid.
4. How is Dry Ice stored?
Dry ice is stored in insulated containers, typically holding 50–300 kg. For best results, it should be used within a week. Thier is a 4% loss per day due to sublimation; it should be stored in a cool, ventilated area.
5. Does Dry Ice Blasting affect the Environment?
No. It’s environmentally friendly. The CO₂ used is a reclaimed byproduct of industrial processes and not newly emitted, so it doesn’t contribute to the greenhouse effect. No seconary waste is produced when blasting and it does not use water or harmful chemicals.
6. What happens to the removed surface material?
Removed contaminants—whether solid, sticky, or liquid—fall to the ground and can be swept or vacuumed up. With no secondary media like sand the amount of material to clean up is vastly reduced.
7. Can it damage surfaces?
Dry ice blasting can be a gentle non abrasive process depending on the equipment setup. It can safely clean delicate items like circuit boards or be set up to remove tough residues like bitumen, rust or paint.
8. Is Dry Ice Balsting Safe?
Dry Ice blasting is a safe process when conducted by trained professionals in the correct environment. It does use high volumes of compressed air and produces high noise levels, so the correct PPE should always be worn.
Dry ice is non toxic and non flammable.
9. How quickly can surfaces be cleaned?
Cleaning speed depends on factors like surface profile, contaminant type, coating thickness, and adhesion strength. We would always carry out test areas to make sure the optimal setting is used. We can then provide a more accurate timeframe to complete a job.
10. Can it remove rust?
It removes loose/surface rust and salts but not deeply embedded oxidation. Severe corrosion may require a different approach.
11. Can it be used on wood?
Yes, but soft woods may become rougher as a result. Hardwoods respond better to the process like oak, walnut and maple. The speed and cleanliness of this process compared to traditional wood preparation method is vastly superior.
12. Will it affect the temperature of blasted item?
There are no significant temperature changes to an item being blasted. Any temperature change is brief as blasting is generally not held at one constant contact point, instead it is always moving along the object being cleaned.
13. Does Dry Ice Blasting cause condensation
Essentially No. Condensation may occur if the surface temperature drops below the dew point. It's rare when cleaning hot surfaces since they usually stay above dew point.
14. Does it produce static electricity?
Yes, but our equipment grounded to prevent static discharge. makling sure the surface to be blasted is also grounded properly prevents static build up.
15. Is the equipment noisy?
Yes, the reality is high volumes of air at pressure are being passed through a samall nozzle. This generates turbulence, coupled with the impact on the surface being treated creates high noise levels. As with any form of media blasting.
16. Can Dry ice Blasting be used in enclosed spaces?
Yes, with proper ventilation. Since CO₂ is heavier than air, vents should be placed near to ground level. In very restricted environments breathing apparatus and gas monitoring equipment is used.
17. How does Dry Ice cleaning compare to other methods?
It’s faster, requires no disassembly, non-abrasive, non-toxic, non-conductive, and leaves no secondary waste. Ideal for electronics and sensitive equipment.
18. What industries use Dry Ice Blasting?
Used across many sectors: automotive, energy, food and beverage, pharma, rubber, aerospace, packaging, foundries, printing, disaster recovery, and more. Because dry Ice Blasting is so versitle it can utilised efficiently in most industries.
19. Is dry Ice Blasting Expensive?
Generally not. When compared directly to sand blasting it is more expensive in operation. But when you factor in the cleanliness of clean and vast amount less of secondary material to clear up and dispose of it is often less expensive. It also reduces downtime as disassembly is not required. Can be part of a maintenance routive to increase efficiency of machinery as non abrasive inceases equipment life.
20. Can downtime be minimised?
Yes. Many machines can be cleaned without shutting down. Dry ice does ingtroduce moisture and leaves surfaces dry, speeding up cleaning and reducing overall downtime.