Rank: Forum user 
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my company (a food manufacturing and processing site) is about to start using dry icing cleaning using CO2
has anyone else used this method?
what are the risks, what controls did you put in place please
as an aside did you find it effective?
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Rank: Super forum user
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I am familiar with dry ice, but am not familiar with the application that you describe. Could you explain a bit more, and in particular how the dry ice is used, and what sort of quantity you have and in what environment (ventilation etc).
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Rank: Forum user
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it is a process where dry ice (CO2) is blasted at the equipment (mostly stainless steel) which removes the contaminant in a food friendly way
it is similar i imagine to steam or pressure cleaning but without the water issues
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Rank: Super forum user
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You don't say how much.
1 kg carbon dioxide produces 845 litres of gas.
It is toxic at 4% in air, and fatal at 7% in air.
There is an exposure limit of 0.5%
If you are going to monitor, do NOT use an oxygen monitor as it reaches dangerous concentrations before the oxygen level is significantly compromised. Use a proper CO2 monitor (easiy to find, since it is an issue in public houses!).
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Rank: Super forum user
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I have a client who switched to this technique for cleaning printing presses. Apart from the ventilation issue the major problem that they encountered was noise. They had to ensure that anyone in the vicinity whilst the process was taking place wore suitable hearing protection and that their health surveillance included audiometry.
Whilst the system did eliminate the use of solvents there was the issue of removing the debris which fell off the rollers and collected under the presses. This was resolved simply by placing a plastic sheet under the presses. As I am not familiar with how you intend to use this process this may or may not be a relevant concern.
Chris
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Rank: Super forum user
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Rank: Super forum user
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All the issues mentioned. Also make sure the people working with it understand how cold it actually is and what it can do you if you handle it if without the correct PPE. I spent years working with liquid nitrogen and never had any problems because I know how hazardous it was but managed to get cryo-burn from dry ice.
Also have a good idea where you’ re going to store it, if you are going to keep a stock of it. Don’t store it in a walk in freezer( somebody tried that once and it could have been very nasty) as they are a) air tight and b) warm compared to the dry ice so it will sublime and give off gas. A potentially lethal combination.
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Rank: Forum user
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thank you everyone this was really useful
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Rank: Super forum user
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I have seen this used in place of standard shot blast, the noise is the same as shot blasting, but the mess is less, there is of course the ventilation requirement / monitorin but it saves have several tonnes of contaminated shot to dispose of
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Rank: Forum user
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I used to work for a company that manufactured technical ceramics. I brought in a specialist company (located in the south of Scotland, as I recall - it was a while ago) to clean down a spray drier after someone had messed with the controls and got it overheated, so the powder got welded to the metal sides (like the proverbial **** to a blanket). Conventional jet washing at 10,000 psi would hardly touch it, but dry ice eventually did. A very effective technique and would recommend it to anyone.
Being a bit of an enclosed vessel, the contractor had their own RPE and they were specialists at this game. This sounds like you maybe plan to do it yourselves, so consider the local environment that you are doing it in as other posters suggests with respect to asphyxiation risk. And yes, it is very noisy indeed, so I'd suggest taking a reading and reviewing the hearing protection being used in the area for attenuation levels. Debris coming off this is also a key issue! Luckily we could just hose it all down and it went off to our effluent treatment plant. You may not be so lucky.
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Rank: Super forum user
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