Ice Blasting Research Articles

Efficient and Sustainable Cleaning: A Comparative Analysis of Cryogenic Technology

Dry ice blasting is a technology that has been widely studied and applied in different industrial sectors as an alternative to the use of solvent, water, or abrasive spraying methods. It is a CO2 spraying system capable of balancing efficiency and sustainability with a wide variety of equipment available on the market. This study analyses and compares cryo-cleaning equipment manufactured by pioneering companies in the cryogenic industry. Based on data sheets, safety data sheets, and contact with manufacturers, a quantitative comparative study has been carried out. The aim of this study is to identify those with the best performance, efficiency, and adaptability to operational and environmental requirements. The results reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the equipment in terms of occupational safety and operability. These have been discussed and evaluated, recognising improvements of this technology, which is capable of removing surface layers of different natures without altering the underlying substrate.

Accelerated In Situ Inspection of Release Coating and Tool Surface Condition in Composites Manufacturing Using Global Mapping, Sparse Sensing, and Machine Learning

The interfacial adhesion, friction, and resulting tool-part interaction during composites manufacturing contribute to the formation of residual stresses and process-induced deformations (PIDs). Tool-part interaction and PIDs are highly sensitive to processing variabilities, one of which is the aging of the release coating and the surface condition of production tools. Unfortunately, due to a lack of available tool inspection methods, manufacturers often attempt to mitigate the aging of release coating based on know-how, leading to cost-deficient tool preparation schedules, lower end-part quality, and in some cases, higher levels of PIDs. This paper presents an in-situ inspection method to evaluate the physicochemical properties of release coating and the surface condition of large production tools by utilizing global mapping, sparse sensing, and machine learning (ML). ML methods are used in conjunction with multiple automated measurement techniques to quickly identify the condition of release coating or contamination on production tool surfaces in manufacturing environments. Results in this paper demonstrate that during autoclave processing, aerospace-grade release coatings undergo significant chemical changes, but may remain highly abhesive for more than twenty autoclave processing cycles. Using the proposed novel inspection technology, dry ice blasting (DIB) is also demonstrated to be an effective method for non-abrasively removing cured resin contamination and release coating from a tool surface. Overall, this paper demonstrates how the proposed inspection method can be integrated into a manufacturing process for automatic surface inspection of large tools to improve production efficiency and potentially mitigate PIDs in composites manufacturing.

Investigation on the mixed mode fracture toughness of freshwater ice using the semi-circular bend method

The fracture toughness of ice is of great importance to understand the fracture behaviour of ice impact and blasting. In this study, the mixed mode (I + II) fracture toughness and mode II fracture toughness of granular freshwater ice were first investigated using the semi-circular bend method. A series of fracture tests were carried out to investigate the effects of the grain size (0.8 mm to 4.5 mm) and notch inclination angle (0° to 75°) on the fracture toughness under mixed mode loading conditions. The experimental results indicate that the mode II and mixed mode fracture toughness values slowly decrease in general as the grain size increases. The fracture initiation angles and critical stress intensity factors of the SCB ice specimens were predicted using the generalized maximum tangential stress (GMTS) criteria and conventional maximum tangential Stress (MTS). The GMTS criterion provides a better understanding for mixed mode fracture toughness of ice specimens with various grain sizes, particularly for mode II dominated loading conditions. The grain size of ice directly affects the size of the fracture process zone, which in turn affects the variation law of mixed mode fracture toughness. The strain field and displacement field were initially analysed based on digital image correlation. The results indicate that the variation in the mixed mode crack was complex, eventually exhibiting an asymmetrical distribution of the displacement field.

DeNOx Characteristics of Commercial SCR Catalyst Regenerated On-Line by Dry Ice Blasting in a Coal-Fired Power Plant

DeNO<i>x</i> Characteristics of Commercial SCR Catalyst Regenerated On-Line by Dry Ice Blasting in a Coal-Fired Power Plant

Assessment of energy consumption, carbon emissions and cost metrics under hybrid MQL-Dry ice blasting system: A novel cleaner production technology for manufacturing sectors

Modern industries are seeking innovative and clean cooling techniques in the machining domain to reduce the cost and environmental impact of manufacturing. To diminish the environmental impact of machining, cryogenic and minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) are recent known cooling/lubrication techniques to determine a perfect alternative to mineral-based emulsion cooling. The cryogenic has superior cooling capabilities and poor lubrication and MQL is vice versa. In this endeavor, a new hybrid MQL-dry ice blasting lubri-cooling technology is proposed in machining as eco-benign technology to investigate sustainability as well as machinability metrics in the milling of AISI-52100. The findings have shown that cutting speed and cooling/lubrication showed the most substantial effect on machinability and sustainability metrics. The experimental findings showed that the cutting speed has more significant effect on specific energy consumption, carbon emission, and machining cost. At highest level of cutting speed (300 m/min), processing time, specific energy consumption, carbon emission and surface roughness was 2.6%, 2.3%, 2.35%, and 22.6% less under hybrid dry ice blasting compared to MQL medium. The shares of the standby time in total energy consumption, carbon emission, and total cost are noticed to be dominant. The hybrid dry ice blasting shared a small fraction of the total cost compared to MQL, and dry ice blasting.

A novel low-pressure hybrid dry ice blasting system for improving the tribological and machining characteristics of AISI-52100 tool steel

Hybrid minimum quantity lubrication and compressed carbon dioxide (MQL + CO2) lubri-coolant can play a crucial role in advancing machinability as well as sustainability. However, it is also the fact that the high-pressure throttling of CO2 produces fog and hinders the low-pressure MQL mist to touch the cutting zone adequately. Therefore, a low-pressure novel hybrid MQL-dry ice blasting lubri-coolant technology is anticipated to improve the machinability by providing the cooling and lubrication simultaneously in milling AISI-52100. This low-pressure hybrid dry ice blasting not only reduces an abundance of smog to reduce the cutting zone visibility, but the dry ice grains also behave as carriers to bring MQL-mist to the cutting zone perfectly. In this proposed study, the surface roughness, residual stresses, cutting temperature, surface hardness, tool wear, and cutting forces are measured by varying the cutting speed (75-300 m/min) and feed per tooth (0.04–0.12 mm/z) under hybrid MQL-dry ice blasting lubri-cooling condition in milling AISI52100 tool steel. The results of this study highlighted that as the cutting speed raised from 100 m/min to 300 m/min, an increase in cutting temperature was 22 % at a constant feed per tooth of 0.08 mm/z. Similarly, the decrease in surface roughness was 42 %, tool life reduced to 57 %, surface hardness increased to 9 %, and across-the-feed surface hardness increased to 58 % by the increase of cutting speed from 75 to 300 m/min and constant feed per tooth of 0.08 mm/z. The proof-of-the-concept study showed the machinability advancement under hybrid lubri-cooling technology due to precise penetration of MQL mist and dry ice grains into the cutting zone in terms of ease in chip evacuation, excellent lubrication, and cutting heat dissipation by sublimation of dry ice.

Influence of dry ice blasting process properties on surface roughness and residual stresses of machined and additive manufactured workpieces

Dry ice blasting has shown the potential to remove metallic burrs after machining processes and support structures after additive manufacturing. During blasting, process parameters need to be chosen depending on the material and the geometric properties of the burr. However, dry ice blasting affects the local material properties on a micro level and improper blasting parameters may lead to changes in the part surface. In this article, correlations and interactions between dry ice blasting parameters and resulting specimen roughness and residual stresses are identified for machined and additive manufactured metallic materials.

Dynamic splitting tensile behaviours of distilled-water and river-water ice using a modified SHPB setup

The tensile strength of ice subjected to dynamic loading constitutes many ice engineering applications such as ice blasting and hail-aircraft impact. In this study, the dynamic tensile behaviours of distilled-water and river-water ice were firstly investigated using the flattened Brazilian disc method with a modified split Hopkinson pressure bar system. Columnar freshwater ice samples were tested at strain rates ranging from 20 to 135 s−1 and temperatures ranging from −5 to −45 °C. The effects of impact velocity, loading rate, and ice sample thickness on the dynamic splitting tensile strength were also explored. Distilled-water ice specimens exhibited a higher indirect tensile strength than their river-water counterparts. The lower the temperature, the greater is the tensile strength, particularly in the case of distilled-water ice in the strain rate range of 89–135 s−1. The temperature had less effect on the dynamic tensile strength of distilled-water ice compared to the loading rate, and the specimen thickness had little effect on the dynamic indirect tensile strength. A large number of non-penetrating cracks were observed on the disc surface, indicating the inhomogeneous distribution of the tensile stress interpreted based on the 3D Brazilian disc theory. The closer the two end faces in the central cross section, the greater the tensile stress. The presence of single and multiple strip cracks on the splitting surface were discovered, possibly because of the instant expansion of the ice specimen and subsequent formation of mode-I cracks in the thickness direction.

Eco-innovation in the cleaning process: An application of dry ice blasting in automotive painting industry

In the field of the automotive painting industry, the conventional cleaning process uses solvents and high amounts of water to clean different substrates. However, not all solvents are suitable for every type of material, so different types of solvents should be used in order to successfully clean different types of material, as the product under fabrication changes, otherwise, a compromise has to be reached. The current cleaning operation system and respective apparatus occupies a significant area of the industrial facility and uses abundant water. Such use of water requires subsequent drying of the cleaned parts and for residual water treatment, leading to high running costs. In this sense, dry ice blasting appears as an alternative to the current process. This method consists of the projection of solid carbon dioxide particles onto a surface as a means of eliminating stains and contaminants prior to the painting. It is suitable for a wider range of substrates, and the necessary equipment occupies significantly less space when compared with the current process. Thus, there is potential for cost savings. In an industrial painting context, this application is considered new, although its physical principle has been established since the late 1980s. The present study aims to qualitatively evaluate the dry ice blasting process according to the quality standards of an industrial unit. Two types of plastic substrates for automotive parts are tested on-site by using a manual dry ice blasting kit, subject to the normal painting process, and then analyzed according to industrial standards. The results show that the process under study meets all the required quality standards. After being painted, the average number of stains per piece is of the same order of magnitude as the normal production, emphasizing that the average primary stains are lower in the process under study. CO2 emissions and cleaning time is greatly reduced, the cleaning runtime decreased by 96.9% if the dry ice is used as an alternative. The viability of dry ice blasting in the pre-painting of plastic surfaces was demonstrated, and the eco-innovation of the new process discussed.

River-ice blasting and explosive weight optimization for ice-flooding mitigation: A case study

Ice blasting with explosives before the spring breakup of river sections is a preventive measure for ice flooding. Based on 496 datasets on ice cover blasting with No. 2 emulsion rock explosives measured in the Mohe reach of the Heilongjiang River from 2015 to 2018, we analyzed the relationships between the blasting-crater diameter and water depth below the ice and between the blasting-crater diameter and the explosive-placement depth below the ice. Further, we analyzed the functional relationship between the explosive weight of a single blast hole and the blasting-crater diameter. Based on the above analysis we proposed an equation to calculate the minimum blasting cost for the same blasting effect. Using a 5-km section of the Heilongjiang River as an example, the proposed optimization method can save ~46% of the total blasting cost while achieving the same blasting effect. Through prototype observations of the Longdao Wharf and the Shengdan Village sections of the Mohe reach, Heilongjiang River, we confirmed that ice blasting can significantly accelerate the melting of ice. Moreover, data records showed that no significant ice-jam flooding has occurred in this section of the Heilongjiang River during the spring ice breakup period in the past five years of consecutive blasting.

Effect of impact force for dual-hose dry blasting nozzle geometry for various pressure and distance: an experimental work

Dry ice blasting plays an essential role in today’s cleaning industry, where many industry players have used it after realizing its advantages. The disadvantage of dry ice blasting is relatively small kinetic energy and offer less aggressive clean effect, especially for dual-hose nozzle geometry. This project was mainly to study the impact force of nozzle geometry of dry ice blasting concerning pressure and distance variation. The nozzle geometries with optimum size and shape are fabricated based on a recent literature study. The experimental research on the effect of the impact forces on different pressures and distances has been conducted to validate the simulation study. The result shows that the optimum nozzle design gives better performance than a based model. Besides, the optimum distance for dry ice blasting operation is less than 400 mm for the pressure range of 2 bars to 4 bars. This distance gives the maximum value of the impacted force for dry ice blasting operation in the industry.

Influence of divergent length on the gas-particle flow in dual hose dry ice blasting nozzle geometry

A numerical simulation study was performed to examine the effect of nozzle geometry and divergent length on gas-particle flows in dual hose dry ice blasting. The simultaneous model of mass momentum and energy exchange between two phases was solved iteratively. The phases are solid dry ice particle and compressible air fluid as a working medium. The results were presented in the gas flow field along the nozzle centerline. The results showed that increasing divergent length decreases the gas-particle density along the centerline; and the density development along the nozzle centerline decreased along the length. Eddy viscosity of the nozzle cavity was steady for length of 0.25 m, but increased drastically for higher values. The substantial increase in eddy viscosity after that position is due to the mixing flow between dry ice pellet and compressed gas which is diverging out from the nozzle outlet area. Thus, the mixing flow experienced back pressure from the atmospheric pressure. The particle mass concentration decreased by increasing nozzle centerline coordinates. The pressure increased along the length; however, it dropped at the end due to the reverse pressure. The temperature increased steadily because of conversion of turbulence to internal thermal energy. The characteristics of gas-particle flow in the nozzle cavity provide better understanding of multiphase flow in turbine and jet engine flow analysis.

Numerical Analysis of Dry Ice Blasting Convergent-Divergent Supersonic Nozzle

There are several well-known and widely used industrial cleaning methods in the market today. One of them is dry ice blasting. In this method, moisture-free air is compressed, mixed with solid CO2 particles, and blasted though a nozzle; in the process, the gas expands, propelling its velocity. The high-speed, two-phase flow cleans by supercooling and crushing particles on the surface, causing dry ice sublimation. As the nozzle is a crucial component of the system, the authors conducted a numerical analysis of the geometry of the proposed convergent-divergent nozzle. A mathematical model of the supersonic, two-phase flow was developed and implemented in commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code. Various operating parameters, such as inlet pressure and dry ice mass flow, were taken into consideration.

Optimum Design of Nozzle Geometry of Dry Ice Blasting Using CFD for the Reduction of Noise Emission

Dry ice blasting has been used in the modern cleaning industry. However, the primary disadvantage of dry ice blasting is high noise exposure. At a high blasting pressure, the process reaches a harmful noise level of up to 130 dBA. The situation significantly impairs to a human being when the noise emission occurs in an inaudible frequency area. Present safety measures are only based on administrative control by encapsulating the entire system with sound insulation. The main objective of this project is to study the optimum nozzle configuration on the effect of dry ice blasting particle velocity and acoustic noise emission. Different nozzle geometry were simulated several times until optimization is achievable. Three-dimension models are designed using CATIA V5. Then the models are simulated with Ansys Fluent V18.2. The numerical studies have been carried out using density based, standard k- e turbulence and Acoustic Broadband Noise Sources model. Six (6) different nozzle configuration namely divergent length, the angle of particle inlet, convergent diameter, expansion ratio, gas inlet diameter and length ratio are analyzed in term of particle velocity magnitude and acoustic power level. The result shows that the optimum nozzle configuration for divergent length, the angle of particle inlet, convergent diameter, expansion ratio, gas inlet diameter and length ratio are 230 mm, 30 mm, 35 mm, 1.00, 6 mm and 0.80 respectively. This configuration provides minimum lowest acoustic noise emission and maximum particle velocity magnitude.

Mechanical pretreatment before electroplating of aluminium alloy AlSi12

Electroplating is a coating process used to increase the durability of workpieces or to change their appearance. To form a high adhesive bonding between the coating and the workpiece, its surface has to meet certain requirements achieved by a comprehensive pretreatment. The conventional pretreatment process chain consists of different steps to increase the roughness and the surface tension of the workpieces. But besides its high costs chemicals are used, which are harmful to the environment and health.The complexity of the pretreatment and coating process chain differs depending on the used workpiece material. Particularly challenging to coat are thereby aluminium-silicon alloys. During the conventional pretreatment of these casting alloys, the Silicon phase enriches on the surface of the workpieces and has to be removed in an additional process step using nitric acid.This study compares alternative mechanical pretreatment processes for AlSi12-workpieces prior to electroplating. The investigated processes are conventional grinding, double face grinding with planetary kinematics, lapping and dry ice blasting. Subsequent to the structuring, the workpieces are cleaned by carbon dioxide snow blasting. The investigation of the different surface structures and its properties, like roughness, surface tension and wetting behaviour, allowed the determination of their impact on the adhesive strength of the coating by empirical modelling.By structuring the surfaces of the workpieces they could be coated by electroplating. Thereby, the chemicals used in the conventional pretreatment are substituted. Especially the creation of surfaces, which could be wetted homogenously, showed a satisfactory adhesive strength of the applied coatings.

Efficiency Investigation of Removal of Loading Carbon Chips on Wheel Surface Using Dry Ice Blasting

In dry grinding of hard carbon parts, the loading by carbon chips on wheel surface occurs in early grinding process, and the grinding performance of wheel is extremely declined. The deterioration affects the grinding accuracy and efficiency. Therefore, loading is one of the problems that must be resolved for high efficiency and high quality grinding of carbon. Generally, the grinding performance of wheel is recovered by the dressing. However, it’s not suitable from a viewpoint of the wheel life and the production cost because available abrasive grains possessing sharp edges under loading carbon chips on wheel surface are lost by dressing. In this study, we propose the dry ice blasting for removing loading carbon chips on wheel surface. The dry ice particles impact on pressed carbon chips with high pressure and sublimate to carbon dioxide quickly. Therefore, it is little influence on working environment because the dry ice doesn’t remain on wheel surfaces after blasting without the damage. In this report, we carry out the blasting tests of resinoid bond diamond wheel surface without grinding performance by loading carbon chips, and analyzed the effect of nozzle processing speed and nozzle feed pitch on recovering abrasive protrusion. The effective dry ice blasting conditions are investigated for high efficiency removal of loading carbon chips, analyzing the protrusion height of abrasive grains.

Investigation of the potential of dry ice blasting for cleaning and disinfection in the food production environment

Cleaning with solid CO2 (dry ice blasting) is an environmental friendly, fast and residue-free method applied in many industrial areas. In this study the disinfection potential of dry ice blasting and parameters influencing cleaning efficacy was investigated. The method removes bacterial cells to a similar extent from several surfaces and components of dairy production equipment, occasionally with a slight abrasive effect. Efficacy is affected by the quantity of dry ice and pressure applied but neither by the pellet size nor the initial quantity of bacterial cells on the surface. Since the bacteria removal rate is less than five log10 units, dry ice blasting cannot be recommended as a disinfection method, but it demonstrates efficient cleaning comparable to other conventional methods. In practice, dry ice blasting of food production equipment is recommended outside the production area because there is a high risk of recontamination due to spread of the bacteria.

Dry ice blasting, a new tool for barrel regeneration treatment

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect on wine of dry ice blasting, used for the regeneration treatment of barriques, from a microbiological, chemical and sensory point of view. Microbiological analyses were performed on a laboratory model system and in small barrels to test the efficacy of dry ice blasting on the reduction in microbial loads. Subsequently, in order to study the chemical and sensory effects of dry ice blasting on wine, two barriques, used in the cellar, were used. One barrique was sulphited, as per common cellar practice, and one was cryosandblasted (R). After 6 months, the wines were compared. Data showed differences between the two wines concerning the volatile components. For instance, wine R had a statistically significant higher content of eugenol, cis-oak lactone and trans-oak lactone. These results were confirmed using sensory analysis, as wine R had an evident increase in intensity of boise and vanilla notes. The advantages derived in using this method are the possibility of utilising a barrique, destined to be eliminated, for almost one more year, which is more sustainable from an economic and environmental point of view for the winemaker, and then the possibility to clean barrels reducing the use of SO2.

Dry ice blasting as a substitution for the conventional electroplating pre-treatments

For high quality electroplated products, surfaces must be thoroughly pre-treated. For this purpose electroplating currently needs a variety of chemical baths. The used chemicals are injurious to health and harmful to the environment. In addition, the conventional pre-treatment has a long process time which results in high costs. Dry ice blasting alone or in combination with other processes has the potential to completely substitute these conventional pre-treatment processes. Three process sequences as pre-treatment methods prior to electroplating were investigated on the aluminium alloys AlSi12 and AlMg3. The used processes are dry ice blasting, tempering during dry ice blasting and glass bead blasting followed by dry ice blasting. The influence of the parameters on the surface roughness, surface topography and surface tension of the workpieces was examined. A model to describe the correlation between the dry ice blasting parameters and surface parameters was developed. Finally, an adhesion test of electroplated specimen was conducted in order to determine the suitability of these alternative pre-treatment processes.

Improvement of Insulation for Rotating Machine by Dry Ice Method

This paper presents the improvement of rotating machine insulation by the powerful blast-cleaning, dry ice method. In this work, the large synchronous generator, 16.25 MVA 6.9kV and 78,240 running hour, was investigated and analyzed. The characteristic of insulation such as polarization and depolarization current (PDC), polarization index (PI) and dielectric loss tangent (tan δ) were measured according to the IEEE standard 43-2013. After cleaning with dry ice blasting, the insulation of generator has improved remarkably. The charging current is decreased due to removal of conductive layers from the insulation surface. For other parameters, polarization index and loss tangent are increased 52.03% and decreased 11.66% respectively. Furthermore, the operation time of dry ice method is very short when compared with traditional cleaning methods, resulting in reduced maintenance downtime and increased more productivity.