Ice Blasting Seminar
Chapter 1 ICE BLASTING
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1. Introduction It's a process in which dry ice pellets are accelerated in a jet of compressed air that strike the coating to be removed at velocities up to the speed of sound. It cleans without the side effects of applications like water jet cleaning, sand blasting or solvents. It is a revolutionary alternative to traditional methods of cleaning. This technology is being utilized in Oil Fields, Power Plants, Mines, and a wide variety of other industrial and manufacturing industries.
2. History The Department of National Defense in Canada contracted Dr. Sam Visaisouk to determine the feasibility of ice blasting for cleaning in confined spaces such as inside ships. The prospect of a dustless abrasive blasting process was very appealing on environmental and worker safety compliance grounds. This effort led to the first operating commercial ice blast machine in 1992. These ice blast machines had complex operating system controls and required frequent defrosting as very cold air was used for fluidizing and transporting ice particles from source to nozzle. At that time, any ice blockages were attributed to partial melting of ice particles, which would favor agglomeration. The use of very cold fluidizing air was deemed absolutely necessary. Periodic system defrosting was required as a result. During this period, other methods of ice blast were introduced elsewhere. Gary Settles of Penn State University patented a process in which a cryogenic fluid froze atomized water in a nozzle for blasting. A French version (briefly licensed by Schlick) utilized liquid nitrogen to freeze small water droplets to form ice particles for blasting. Both of these processes relied on cryogenic fluid at very low temperatures and could not be easily scaled up for robust industrial requirements. In 1996 Sam Visaisouk took a drastic change in the method of
____________________________________________________________
______
1. Introduction It's a process in which dry ice pellets are accelerated in a jet of compressed air that strike the coating to be removed at velocities up to the speed of sound. It cleans without the side effects of applications like water jet cleaning, sand blasting or solvents. It is a revolutionary alternative to traditional methods of cleaning. This technology is being utilized in Oil Fields, Power Plants, Mines, and a wide variety of other industrial and manufacturing industries.
2. History The Department of National Defense in Canada contracted Dr. Sam Visaisouk to determine the feasibility of ice blasting for cleaning in confined spaces such as inside ships. The prospect of a dustless abrasive blasting process was very appealing on environmental and worker safety compliance grounds. This effort led to the first operating commercial ice blast machine in 1992. These ice blast machines had complex operating system controls and required frequent defrosting as very cold air was used for fluidizing and transporting ice particles from source to nozzle. At that time, any ice blockages were attributed to partial melting of ice particles, which would favor agglomeration. The use of very cold fluidizing air was deemed absolutely necessary. Periodic system defrosting was required as a result. During this period, other methods of ice blast were introduced elsewhere. Gary Settles of Penn State University patented a process in which a cryogenic fluid froze atomized water in a nozzle for blasting. A French version (briefly licensed by Schlick) utilized liquid nitrogen to freeze small water droplets to form ice particles for blasting. Both of these processes relied on cryogenic fluid at very low temperatures and could not be easily scaled up for robust industrial requirements. In 1996 Sam Visaisouk took a drastic change in the method of