Dry Ice Blasting Speeds Up Storm Cleanup, Quick-freezes Books, Water Pipe Freezing

Cryogenic cleaning with dry ice requires fewer people and cleans faster, thus conserving scarce labor and material needed for cleanup after a hurricane and the related wind and flood damage in the Midwest. Dry ice blasting uses high density dry ice pellets (-109 F) which are shot from a nozzle by compressed air. When the dry ice pellets strike the surface to be cleaned, the mechanical and thermal shock loosens the soil, which is carried away in the blast stream. The dry ice sublimates, changing directly from solid carbon dioxide to gas, thus there is no water or solvent residue to clean up.

Flood cleanup with dry ice cleaning saves labor as it removes and controls black mold and other molds, and sanitizes other biological contaminates, such as sewage residue, carried by the flooding. The dry ice blast cleaning operator can clean corners, crevices and voids making it much faster than manual scraping. Dry ice blasting reduces labor hours and the equipment is portable and can be moved easily inside damaged or flooded buildings.

Dry ice blasting or brushing is the cleaning medium of choice for restoration of woodwork, paintings, statuary, and stonework. The dry ice blast cleaning operator can adjust the nozzle velocity of the dry ice blasting equipment to gently brush the surfaces of paintings or antique leather book covers.

Books subjected to flooding should be frozen as soon as possible. The books should be carefully packed into refrigerated semitrailers and quick-frozen with dry ice, as the refrigeration machinery on these trailers does not have the capacity for flash freezing. After the wet books are frozen, the refrigeration of the trailer will gradually draw out the moisture, a deliberate "freezer burn" to dry out the books. While they are frozen, the wet books are protected from mold growth.

Dry ice can also be used to shut off water piping for repairs by freezing a small length of the pipe on either side of the area to be repaired.

Everyone using dry ice in cleanup operations must review the dry ice safety precautions.

Call Continental Carbonic toll-free at 800-DRY-ICE2 for all of your dry ice and/or dry ice blasting needs. Visit our News Archive to find out about more ways to use dry ice blasting. Use our ZIP code locator to find your closest Continental Carbonic location.

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