Dry Ice Cleaning Machine Cleaning Method

Similar to steel, glass, plastic and soda blasting, dry ice blasting media dry ice particles are accelerated in a high pressure air stream and impact the surface to be cleaned. The unique feature of dry ice cleaning is that the dry ice particles vaporize at the moment of impact. The momentum of the dry ice particles disappears at the moment of impact. A rapid heat exchange occurs between the dry ice particles and the surface to be cleaned. This causes the solid CO2 to rapidly sublimate into gas. The dry ice particles expand nearly 800 times in volume within a few thousandths of a second, thus creating a "micro explosion" at the point of impact. Since the CO2 evaporates, the dry ice cleaning process does not produce any secondary waste, leaving only the removed dirt to be collected and cleaned.
Like other blasting media, the momentum of the dry ice particles depends on their mass and velocity. Due to the relatively low density of dry ice, the required impact energy depends mainly on the velocity of the dry ice particles.
Unlike other blasting media, the dry ice particles are extremely cold (-78°C). This low temperature gives dry ice cleaning unique thermodynamic properties that affect the mechanical properties of the adhered dirt. Due to the temperature difference between the dry ice particles and the surface to be cleaned, thermal shock occurs. The material temperature decreases, the brittleness increases, and the dry ice particles can impact and break the dirt layer.