Dry Ice Blasting

East Coast Restorations are proud to offer our clients the latest technological advancements in cleaning methods used in fire,water and mould restoration: Dry Ice Blasting. Until recently this technology and equipment was only available in capital cities, like Melbourne,Sydney and Perth.

 

Dry Ice Blasting is similar to sand or soda blasting where a media is accelerated in a controlled pressurized stream towards a contaminated surface to dislodge the contaminant and clean the surface. Our method uses dry ice which is the solid form of  carbon dioxide, found naturally in our atmosphere. The temperature of dry ice is approximately minus 80 degrees Celsius (-80 degrees C) because of the temperature difference between dry ice and the normal temperature of the atmosphere and the surface of contamination being blasted, thermal shock occurs and causes a breakdown of bond between dissimilar materials. Once the dry ice comes in contact and completely dislodges the contaminant it then completely evaporates. The ice is soft enough not to damage the carrier surface. Timber, brick,glass,tiles,steel,plastics are all materials that can be cleaned.

 

Dry Ice has many unique and superior benefits over traditional blasting media. It is nonabrasive, non- flammable and nonconductive it uses no water or chemicals. It is environmentally friendly and contains no secondary contaminants such as solvents or grit. The ice just simply melts and evaporates meaning no clean up after wards and perfect for use indoors. It has been approved in the food industry it works great on electrical switch boards, motor windings etc. We were engaged by one of Australia's largest energy supply companies in October 2013  to investigate the possibility to use dry ice blasting to clean High Voltage Power Reactors.  This project was extremely successful and proved to be extremely cost efficient. ( see photos below of the Power Reactors that were cleaned using Dry Ice Blasting in 2013/2014)

 

Most items and surfaces can be cleaned in place without the fear of damage to electrical or mechanical parts. Dry Ice Blasting can be modified to be as gentle as dusting a surface or as aggressive as removing weld slag.

 

Dry Ice Blasting offers cleaning solutions across many Industries from Aerospace to Automotive, Food manufacture and processing, Marine  and the Restoration Industry. Removing soot and smoke damage to exposed timbers, cathedral ceilings, natural brick work and glass are just a few areas where we have applied this technology and seen the total benefits and impressive results but the possibilities are endless. Normally after the cleaning of brick work using traditional methods there is still staining visible and acid cleaning is then required and if this method fails then the brick surface would require bleed sealing and then painting. But NOT with Dry Ice Blasting, the brick work ,in one easy process, come's back looking like new using no chemicals and requiring no painting. No mess, just pack up and go.

Of course every job is different, brick type, mortar compound, age, time duration since the damage occurred ,are a few things that will have an impact on the actual finished product.

 

Our Dry Ice Blasting unit is completely portable and mobile, we bring it to you. We can cater for large to small jobs.