Dry ice blasting is used in a variety of general maintenance applications including:
- removal of oil and grease;
- cleaning of manfans;
- removal of weld slag;
- removal of overspray from holding fixtures.
By removing oil and grease buildups from equipment, maintenance departments can more quickly observe leaks, frayed wiring, damaged belts, etc. Early detection can often prevent a minor problem from developing into a major one.
These fans are used for general plant ventilation and are subjected to various airborne contaminants including dust and lubricants. Over time, these contaminants can throw the fan blades out of balance and cause problems with the fan motor. Traditional maintenance methods require removal of the fan to a separate area for hand cleaning with solvents. This is labor-intensive and time consuming. With dry ice blasting, the fans are cleaned in place. The cost-savings are so significant that many large manufacturers can justify the purchase of a dry ice blasting system for this application alone.
Weld slag buildup is normal in welding operations. If this buildup is not removed periodically, performance of robotic and other automated equipment suffers. Hand-scraping is slow, labor-intensive, and not veri thorough. Many manufacturers now use hand-scraping only to remove the larger deposits. They then use CO2 blast cleaning to do the thorough cleaning required to keep equipment operating at optimal levels.
Dry ice blasting is now used on e-coat lines to remove overspray from various fixtures including contact shoes and holding clamps. Traditional methods use grinding wheels, solvents, or other manual methods, some areas (springs inside clamps, for instance) are often inaccessible. Dry ice effectively cleans these areas without damage, reducing cleaning time by as much as 50% while greatly extending the life of the fixture. The elimination of solvents also greatly increases worker safety while eliminating associated waste disposal costs.
This offers substantial benefits including:
- improved maintenance response;
- significant labor-savings;
- improved worker safety;
- reductions in chemical use;
- improved operation of equipment;
- extended equipment life
