Using dry ice is a blast
October 1st 2006 Kärcher says its latest piece of industrial kit works like a sand blaster but uses dry ice instead – resulting in an effective, residue-free and environmentally friendly clean New from Kärcher UK is the IB 15/80 ice blaster, a robust dry ice cleaning system designed for industrial cleaning applications. The IB15/80 is an innovative blasting system that works in a similar way to sand blasting but which uses dry ice to clean. This has the benefit of not leaving any residue, like sand or water. In addition, the dry ice evaporates into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas, leaving no dampness, corrosion or wastewater behind.The dry ice pellets are non-abrasive so do not damage the surface whilst cleaning and can remove effectively, and quickly, paint and grease as well as stubborn dirt. It is also environmentally friendly as no chemicals are used. The Kärcher IB15/80 works by ice pellets being injected into a jet of compressed air, accelerated to a speed in excess of 150m/s and fired at the surface. The dry ice pellets hit the contaminated surface and instantly cool the dirt to -79 Celsius, causing the dirt to become brittle and fall away. At this point the pellets change from a solid to a gaseous state and evaporate into the air. "The IB15/80 uses a simple process, is environmentally friendly and is very effective in removing all kinds of dirt from variety of different surfaces," says Lee Norton, Kärcher sales director, commercial and industrial. "It is ideally suited to cleaning equipment that would normally have to be stripped down and removed for cleaning, particularly within the food, plastic moulding and print industries." More articles from Karcher (UK) Ltd: | 
