Dry Ice Blasting for Automotive and Heavy Equipment Manufacturing

   Assembly Plants

Robotics -
Dry ice blast cleaning is used at many auto plants to clean robotic welding arms and fixtures that hold parts in auto body weld departments.

Man Fans -
A major automaker has formally identified dry ice blasting as a "Best Practice" for cleaning man fans throughout the plant. Dirty fans fail frequently and are very important for assembly line worker productivity during hot weather.

Spray Booths -
Dry ice blast cleaning is used in paint booths to clean paint overspray from various parts. Metal hooks in electrostatic paint operations need to remain clean to assure a good ground for the part being cleaned. Automotive lighting customers blast clean spray booths used to apply a coating to head lamp and tail lamp assemblies.

General Maintenance -
Dry ice blast cleaning is used throughout auto assembly plants to clean dirty production machines. Maintenance workers are more efficient and effective when working on machines that have had the grease, dirt and oil removed prior to disassembly.

   Automotive Foundries and Metal Forming

Core Boxes -
Some of the largest users of dry ice blasting pellets are cleaning steel core boxes used for sand core production. The ability to clean without introducing any secondary waste is a huge cost-saving benefit.

Permanent Molds -
Permanent core molders of aluminum wheels and transmission casings use dry ice blasting to clean mold release agents, mold fouling and lubbers.

   Automotive Rubber and Plastic Molders

Tire Molds -
Nearly every major tire manufacturing plant cleans molds hot and in-place using dry ice blasting. Compared to cooling the molds, removing them from the press and cleaning them in a remote location, dry ice blasting results in significantly greater productivity.

Seat and Gasket Molds -
Molds for foam seat cushions, rubber gaskets and rubber parts used to seal door, trunk and hood assemblies are effectively cleaned with dry ice blasting.

   Automotive Interiors

Acoustic and Vibratory Mats - Dashboards and Door Assemblies - Headliners - Steering Wheels
Molds used to manufacture fibrous acoustical and thermal management materials, dash and door assemblies, automotive headliners and steering wheels are cleaned using dry ice blasting. These are situations where the ability to clean tooling hot and in-place results in significant reductions in down-time and greater productivity.

   Automotive Parts

Headlamp molds and spray booths - Oil and fuel filter assembly - Brake Assemblies -
A variety of manufacturing and processing machines can be effectively cleaned using dry ice blast cleaning. Overspray in spray booths is easily cleaned as are the mold tools in injection molding operations. Build up of adhesives and latex from filter paper saturation are cleaned without any secondary waste management issues.

Dry Ice Blasting for Food, Pet Food, Beverage and Bakery Operations

    Commercial Bakeries

Continuous conveyor ovens can be difficult to clean and can result in significant production down-time. Dry ice blast cleaning allows cleaning to be done without cooling the oven down and can even be done without halting production. The food-grade dry ice pellets leave no secondary waste to deal with or contaminate product. Oven drive chains are easily and effectively cleaned, eliminating the need to remove them or clean with water resulting in damage to bearings and other components. Commercial waffle irons are cleaned hot and in-place resulting in no down time for cleaning. Fryers, mixers, racks, carts and a variety of other items are effectively cleaned with dry ice blasting.

    Extrusion Cooking and Dryers

Steam cooked products that are extruded and dried, tend to clog the holes in the drying trays resulting in poor airflow across the product. Clean dryer trays results in increased production and lower cost. The savings from reduced natural gas usage can result in a pay back of just months.

    Food Processing Equipment

A variety of food processing machines can be effectively cleaned with dry ice blasting. From knife blades used to slice raisin bread to ribbon mixer blades and packaging machines. Where sanitation is a priority, dry ice blasting is most effective because no secondary waste is created. Cleaning in place saves hours of downtime and reduces labor costs. Creating no secondary waste means cost savings from clean-up, hazardous chemical disposal and sanitary sewer charges.

    Beverage Bottling & Packaging

Sanitation is critical in beverage packaging plants. Dry ice blasting is very effective for cleaning conveyors, airveyors and packaging machines.

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