Dry ice blasting in car workshops
Dry ice blasting is an effective particle spray process for removing stubborn dirt coatings from a range of supporting materials. Dry ice cleaning has also proven its worth in automotive workshops or reconditioning shops, especially on complex and delicate surfaces – from upholstery cleaning in cars to cleaning engine compartments and restoration work on classic cars. The main advantage of this technology is that it cleans without leaving any residues, such as waste water, chemicals or spray agent residues.
Engine compartment, body or interior: Dry ice for cleaning delicate surfaces
Why use dry ice in workshops?
Cleaning dirty car parts, tools and machines is usually hard work and often generates a lot of dirt. This is because methods like sandblasting leave behind spray agent, such as sand and glass granulate. Often, there is still cleaning to be done after cleaning the parts.
With this in mind, dry ice has a number of advantages for car workshops and conditioners: Above all, dry-ice blasting can be used without any issues in all applications where water is off-limits. This is particularly true of delicate vehicle electronics or when working on the bodywork of valuable vintage cars. This prevents potential damage to the delicate electronics caused by cleaning with water, protects parts against corrosive chemicals, protects mechanical tools and removes stubborn encrustations without leaving any residues.
Dry ice cleaning even provides a solution for tasks which were previously impossible or could only be accomplished while taking up a great deal of time. This method not only removes chewing gum residue and grease stains, it can also clean dashboards and inside engines immaculately.
It makes all areas clean
Dry-ice blasting can be used in a range of areas. Dry ice blasters can be used to remove varnishes and paints, oils, grease, tar, bitumen, ink, resin, adhesives, wax, silicone and rubber residues, chewing gum and a wide range of dirt coatings from different supporting materials. There are also options for removing old varnish from varnished surfaces layer by layer. Furthermore, this cleaning method has various areas of applications on vehicles.
Dry ice blasting in the engine compartment and on the body:
Metal parts
Engine, chassis, rims, sealing surfaces, thread, tools, lifting platforms
Rubber parts
Hoses, handles, seals, exhaust brackets
Electronic components
Dry ice cleaning in vehicle interiors:
Textiles and plastics inside and on vehicles: Seats, floor mats, roof liners, armrests, vents, dashboards, pedals
How does dry ice blasting work?
Dry-ice blasting is a particle jet process using solid CO2 pellets as a blasting agent. Upon impact with the surface, the frozen CO2 sublimates directly into gaseous CO2, leaving no blasting agent residue.
Production of dry ice pellets
Dry ice pellets sublimate over time and get lost if stored for several days, even in cool boxes.
Standard dry ice pellet supply relies on external production in hydraulic pelletisers and scheduled delivery, which involves fixed logistics costs regardless of order volume.
This machine produces dry ice on demand directly at the workshop using standard liquid CO2 cylinders and a compressed air supply.
Procedure and effect of dry-ice blasting
1. The dry ice pellets – solid CO2 at a temperature of -79 °C – impinge on the surface at a high speed of 150 m/s. Like all other spray processes, the accelerated particles lose their kinetic energy when they impinge on the surface. Their Mohs hardness is approximately the same as that of gypsum.
2. When the micro-fine ice pellets at a temperature of -79 °C impinge on the dirt or layer to be removed, the temperature differential/abrupt cooling and kinetic energy cause the dirt to become fragile and brittle and break up. This makes it easier to remove the dirt at a later stage.
3. Subsequent particles penetrate into the cracks in encrusted dirt and applied paint and sublimate there from a solid state to a gaseous state. This involves a 400-fold increase in volume and the dirt is blasted off on a microscopic scale.
Advantages of dry ice blasting
Dry ice blasters operate using compressed air and solid carbon dioxide (CO₂) pellets. Because no water or liquid cleaning agents are added during this process, there is no need to dispose of waste water or blasting agent residues; only the dislodged dirt remains. Depending on its amount and composition, this dirt can be blown away by the compressed air or vacuumed up. Vehicle parts can often be cleaned directly without prior disassembly, as the pellets reach into narrow spaces. This cleaning method removes dirt while preserving the underlying material.
Correct work protection when working with dry ice in car workshops
The sound pressure of a dry ice blaster is not insignificant, varying between 75 dB(A) and 125 dB (A), depending on various operating parameters. For this reason, operators must wear hearing protection. Touching dry ice may cause skin injuries due to its very low temperature. For user safety, they must therefore wear overalls, safety goggles or a helmet with sight protection, and gloves. The TLV (threshold limit value) for CO2 is 0.5 per cent by volume, which does not cause problems indoors or on factory floors. However, in enclosed spaces or blast cabinets, there must be a ventilation system with a CO2 detector, or a respiratory mask must be worn.
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