DRY ICE BLASTING FOR PAINT STRIPPING AND SURFACE PREPARATION

摘要

In recent years increasing interest has been generated in the emerging technology of dry ice (carbon dioxide pellet) blasting. The primary attraction of this surface preparation method is that the cleaning agents, small pellets of solid carbon dioxide (CO_2), immediately disappear upon impact and return to their natural state in the atmosphere. Because waste volume is limited to the material removed, dramatic reductions in cleanup and disposal costs are possible. A secondary feature of this technology is that the impact/flushing action of the pellets does not alter or damage the surface of the object cleaned. Paint stripping is not the forte of the dry ice blasting technology. For many coatings a more abrasive action than that which CO_2 pellets would provide is needed. CO_2 blasting for those coatings that can be effectively removed by this process is not economically feasible. The viability of utilizing CO_2 blasting increases as the environmental factors and disposal costs/restrictions become more significant. It is then that CO_2 blasting becomes an environmentally friendly cleaning technology that is also cost effective.