Ice-based systems set to clean up

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 27, 2006

A patented water ice cleaning systems use crystalline ice particles to provide a gentle, nonabrasive yet extremely effective cleaning technique.

Available now from CIProcess is the UK's first cleaning system powered by H2O ice.

Developed by US company Universal IceBlast, the patented water ice cleaning systems use crystalline ice particles to provide a gentle, nonabrasive yet extremely effective cleaning technique.

Environmentally friendly and safe, IceBlast is a low energy technology, which is chemical free, dust-free and VOC-free.

Compared with other blast cleaning processes, ice blast reduces secondary waste by up to 95%, and reduces water usage by up to 80%.

Dave Adams, CIProcess's Technical Director reports: "The IceBlast technology is incredibly simple and effective".

"Solid ice particles displace surface contaminants by imparting the energy from the impact and from the deformation of the ice particles".

"The ice melts on impact and the water then flushes away the debris".

"This very exciting technology compliments the other cleaning and treatment systems that we supply".

Using just water, electricity and compressed air, the units have very low running costs compared with all of the other traditional blasting technologies.

Media free, they also prevent any possibility of media contamination, and minimise the waste present in most cleaning processes.

At the heart of the technology is the "displace, scrub and flush" system of cleaning that takes place when the ice crystals impact onto a substrate.

Ice crystals deform to scrub on impact, and after impact melt into water to wash away debris.

Thus, each ice particle is a self-destructing scrubbing brush that flushes away contaminants.

With applications in many diverse areas, IceBlast's traditional market areas are industrial cleaning (cleaning of industrial machinery and infrastructure), production cleaning (cleaning and treatment in the manufacturing industries) and environmental cleaning (conservation, asbestos abatement, nuclear and chemical decontamination).

Most applications currently using sand, shot, bead blasting and water or chemical cleaning can achieve environmental, cost and/or logistical advantages from IceBlast technology.

Recognising the environmental and cost saving aspects of IceBlast, new applications are constantly emerging in as diverse fields as the automotive, aerospace, medical devices, power generation, pharmaceutical, food, chemical and distilling sectors.

Onno Eigeman from Aquahit-IceBlast affirms: "CIProcess's innovative thinking and application make them ideal to work with IceBlast".

"We hope to make the UK and Ireland the flagship of the IceBlast operation in Europe".

"With our equipment already in use in many areas worldwide, we see the UK as a new and very exciting market".

"Our technology is inherently environmentally friendly, making it ideal for current and upcoming European directives on the environment".

IceBlast's novel process can be used for numerous other surface treatment tasks including deburring, deflashing, surface preparation, surface treatment and decontamination.

Available in static or mobile versions, the units can be purchased or rented from CIProcess.