Cryoclean

Dry-Ice Blasting
Effective Yet
Environmentally
Friendly

Cryoclean
Dry-Ice Blasting And CryoMax
Cost-effective, environmentally friendly and gentle on substrates

Soiling of equipment, machines, tools or

workpieces has undesirable consequences:
Poorer quality (necessitating either
rejection or refinishing)
Longer production cycles
Safety risks
Reduced efficiency of subsequent
surface treatments
Unattractive appearance
Then there are, of course, many intentionally applied coatings etc. that have to
be removed for a variety of reasons.
Most conventional cleaning processes
lead to:
Wear as a result of using abrasive
cleaning agents
Costs for disposal and processing of
used cleaning agent (sand, glass
beads, water etc.)
Downtimes and/or costly cool-down
and warm-up times because equipment has to be dismantled to remove
soiled parts for cleaning

Picture on title page:

CryoMax in action ...

1000

Vapor pressure (bar)

Most conventional cleaning

processes cause additional
problems

CO2 state diagram

10000
Supercritical

ry-ice blasting with our mobile,

specially designed CryoMax
system is an attractive alternative to
conventional cleaning processes. It
lets you clean right at the production
site, reduces downtimes, is gentle
on substrates, and doesnt leave
behind any cleaning agent residues.

Solid
Liquid

100

10

Triplepoint of
carbon dioxid
5.19 bar; 56.6 C

Critical point
Operating parameters of
liquid CO2 tank
(14 bar; 30 C to 20 bar; 20 C)

Sublimation point
of dry ice
1.013 bar; 78.5 C

0.1

Gaseous

0.01

0.001
-140

-120

-100

-80

-60

-40

-20

20

40

60

Temperature (C)

Dry ice: cryogenic snow that

is never liquid
Dry ice is the solid form of carbon
dioxide, or CO2 for short. When CO2 expands, finely powdered snow is formed.
For use with the CryoMax, this cryogenic
carbon-dioxide snow is compacted into
dry-ice pellets by pressing it through
special dies.
Dry ice has a density of about 1300 kg
/m3. The bulk density of the pellets is
about 1100 kg/m3. It closely resembles
normal water ice, but has very different
properties:
Its temperature remains constant at
78C.
When energy is applied (e.g., heat or
energy released by impact), dry ice is
directly converted into its gaseous
state without liquefying first. This
eliminates the necessity of special
disposal measures, thus saving you
money.
2

Granular dry ice is made in a so-called

pelletiser. The resulting dry-ice pellets
are about the same size as grains of rice
(about 1/4 long and 1/8 in diameter).

Fascinatingly simple:
how the process works
The dry-ice pellets are stored in wellinsulated containers for transport to the
cleaning site, where they are transferred
to the reservoir of the CryoMax dry-ice
blasting system. There they are dispensed into a stream of compressed air,
which accelerates them through a specially designed nozzle and projects them
at high speed against the surface to be
cleaned.

As the pellets strike the surface, three

physical effects combine to clean it:
1. The dry-ice pellets (at a temperature
of 78 C) instantly cool the surface.
Contaminants adhering to it become
brittle, losing their elasticity.
2. Because the contaminants and the
substrate have different coefficients
of expansion, mechanical tensions
arise at their contact point.
3. The kinetic energy of the pellets
causes the solid granules to immediately convert to their gaseous
phase (sublimation), without leaving
behind any bothersome residues.
This phase transition is accompanied by
a sudden increase in volume having the
effect of separating the now-brittle surface coating, whose adhesion has
already been weakened by thermal
stresses, from the substrate, without any
residue. The stream of compressed air
then carries it away.

This combined cleaning

action yields substantial
benefits:
1. No erosion of the material being
cleaned.
2. Contaminant particles can be
completely captured without being
mixed with the cleaning agent.
3. No disposal or processing of cleaning
agents is required.
4. The cleaning effect can be very
precisely adjusted to each situation.
5. Cleaning can be smoothly integrated
into production processes.
6. Reduced downtimes.

Areas in which dry-ice blasting with CryoMax has been

successfully practised for
years:

The cleaning rate

(area cleaned per unit of time)
depends on various factors:

Processing of foamed PU
For removing release agent residues
from presses used to make moulded
parts out of foamed polyurethane

Properties of the substance being

removed
(Material, thickness, hardness, tendency
to become brittle when frozen, etc.)

Processing of rubber and plastics

For getting rid of baked-on release agent
residues in vulcanisation presses for
making shaped rubber parts and tyres

The cleaning effect of dry-ice pellets

relies crucially on weakening the bond
between contaminant and substrate by
inducing thermal stresses. Thin layers
are thus easier to remove because their
temperature can be reduced more
quickly throughout their thickness. This
process has produced the best results
with contaminant layers up to 5 mm
thick.

Food industry
For taking product residues off containers, machine parts, and conveyors
Cleaning of buildings and outdoor
areas
For eliminating organic and inorganic
substances (such as grease, oil, moss,
soot, chewing gum, dirt) from buildings,
roads, etc.
Other applications
Anti-rust coatings
Paints and varnishes
Resins
Adhesives
Oil, grease, lubricants
Bitumen
Foundries
Welding lines
Material-handling systems

Differing coefficients of expansion of

contaminant and substrate
Type of substrate material
(Surface structure, thickness, brittleness)
Accessibility
(Cleaning results depend on how closely
the dry-ice blasting system can be
placed to the cleaning site, and whether
or not you can get right up to the soiled
location with the blasting gun. Cleaning
is mainly done by sight.)

It is essential to ensure adequate

ventilation at the cleaning site.
(In order to prevent accumulation of
CO2).

Simple to use, outstanding results:

dry-ice blasting

Before and after

The top half of this photograph shows a
heating mould soiled with synthetic resin
and adhesive residues. In some areas,
the gap between the metal blocks is
smaller than 1 mm. After cleaning with
dry-ice pellets (bottom half of photograph), all of the contaminants are gone.
You can even readily make out the
damage previously inflicted to the surface by mechanical cleaning.

Before-and-after comparison:
damage and performance
Cleaning of half-timbers

Pelletiser

CryoMax, the mobile blastcleaning system

The pelletiser is used to produce the dryice pellets. Driven by hydraulic pistons,
special dies press the CO2 snow into
pellet form.

This cleaning system is exceedingly easy

to handle and operate, and requires only
minimal maintenance. It receives a
supply of compressed air through a
hose; pellets dispensed into the stream
are conveyed via a flexible hose to the
blast gun. Emerging from a nozzle that is
optimally selected for each application,
they are then projected against the
surface to be cleaned.

Pelletiser

CO2 pellets
Cleaning of
moulds

Where dry-ice pellets come from

CO2 production
Chemical industry or
natural sources

Cleaning,
drying,
liquefaction

Storage

Production of granules
in the pelletiser

absc

eide

Placement and storage of

pellets in insulated boxes

Loading of pellets

Compressed air supply*

CryoMax
system

Cleaning work**

* Suitable compressed air is needed.

** You can do the cleaning work yourself
or contract a service provider.

LINDE AG Industrial Gases Division

Linde Representatives
Worldwide
Linde Gas Pty. Ltd.
7478 Seville Street
AUS-Fairfield, N.S.W. 2165
Tel.: (02) 79 42-245
Fax: (02) 79 42-265

Netherlands:

Austria:

Linde Gas GmbH & Co. KG

Waschenbergerstrae 13
A-4651 Stadl-Paura
Tel.: (0 72 45) 2 16 00
Fax: (0 72 45) 2 16 16

Poland:

Belgium:

Hoek Loos N.V.

Tunnelweg 7
2845 Niel
Tel.: (0 3) 8 44 25 28
Fax: (0 3) 8 44 31 43

Czech Republic:

Linde Technoplyn a.s.

U Technoplynu 1324
C R-19800 Praha 9
Tel.: (02) 70 06 111
Fax: (02) 70 10 15

France:

Greece:

Hong Kong:

Hungary:

Italy:

Malaysia:

Subject to change

Linde Gaz Industriels S.A.R.L.

174, Av. Jean Jaurs
F-69007 Lyon
Tel.: (0 78) 69 22 44
Fax: (0 78) 69 17 77
Linde Hellas E.P.E.
Syngrou Avenue 228
GR-17672 Athen-Kallithea
Tel.: (01) 9 58 02 11
Fax: (01) 9 56 24 89
Linde Gas Ltd.
Room 2601 Sino Plaza
256257 Gloucester Road
Causeway Bay
Hongkong
Tel.: (02) 5 73 03 78
Fax: (02) 8 38 41 15

Portugal:

Slovak Republic:

Slovenia:

Spain:

Switzerland:

United Kingdom:

Linde Gz Magyarorszg RT
Illatos u. 911
H-1097 Budapest
Tel.: (01) 2 82 92 82
Fax: (01) 2 82 92 81
Linde Gas Italia S.r.l.
Via Marconi, 24
I-20089 Rozzano (Milano)
Tel.: (02) 57 51 05 00
Fax: (02) 57 51 04 60
Linde Gas Sdn. Bhd.
Suite 14.01, 14th Floor, Wisma Goldhill
No. 67, Jalan Raja Chulan
50200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel.: (0 3) 2 01 02 00
Fax: (0 3) 2 02 42 16

USA:

Other countries:

Hoek Loos
Postbus 78
NL-3100 AB Schiedam
Tel.: (0 10) 4 27 66 99
Fax: (0 10) 4 27 05 00
Linde Gaz Polska Sp.z o.o.
ul. Piastowska 44c
PL-30070 Krakw
Tel.: (0 12) 23 84 42
Fax: (0 12) 23 84 30
Linde Sogs, Lda.
Avenida Infante D. Henrique Lt. 21
Cabo Ruivo
P-1800 Lisboa
Tel.: (0 11) 8 59 58 22
Fax: (0 11) 8 59 13 29
Linde Technick Plyny K.S.
Rac ianska 71
SR-83259 Bratislava
Tel.: (07) 25 22 02
Fax: (07) 25 37 33
Linde Plin d.o.o.
Krekov trg 4
SL-6300 Celje
Tel.: (0 63) 2 50 52
Fax: (0 63) 2 81 00
Abell Linde, S.A.
Calle Bailn, 105
E-08009 Barcelona
Tel.: (03) 2 07 30 11
Fax: (03) 2 07 57 64
PanGas
Postfach
CH-6002 Luzern
Tel.: (0 41) 3 19 95 00
Fax: (0 41) 3 19 95 15
Linde Gas UK Ltd.
Pipers Road
Park Farm South
Redditch
Worcestershire B 98 OHU
Tel.: (0 15 27) 51 72 77
Fax: (0 15 27) 51 65 60
Holox
1500 Indian Trail Road
Norcross, GA 30083
Tel.: (04 04) 9 25 46 40
Fax: (04 04) 9 25 49 66

Printed on chlorine-free bleeched paper

Australia:

Linde AG
Industrial Gases Division
Export Head Office
Seitnerstrae 70
D-82049 Hllriegelskreuth
Tel.: (0 89) 74 46-0
Fax: (0 89) 74 46-1490

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