C02 Blasting | Dry Ice Blasting

Also referred to as carbon dioxide or CO2 blasting, dry ice blasting technique is an effective method for cleaning gas and steam turbine components including discs, rotor, casing, blades, and as well as generator stator and windings.

 

CO2 blasting is an innovative and effective technique for cleaning, stripping and restoring a wide range of surfaces. It can be used to clean and strip paint from metal surfaces, remove rust, remove slag from welds, and even remove graffiti from brick or concrete. CO2 blasting is also known as carbon dioxide snow cleaning or dry ice blasting because it utilizes the properties of frozen carbon dioxide pellets to blast away dirt, debris and other contaminants without causing any damage to the underlying surface.

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Here at Signature Blasting Services, we use recycled solid CO2 pellets of MicroParticles, which are blasted at supersonic speed with compressed air and then sublimate on impact, lifting dirt, deposits, and contaminants off the underlying substrate.

 

Dry ice blasting or CO2 blasting is a non-abrasive, non-conductive, and dry process. These characteristics greatly help with the fact that electrical components such as generator windings can also be effectively cleaned safely and in-situ with this technique. Especially for electrical components, carbon, grease, oxide, and dirt contribute to low meg/insulation readings as well as catastrophic equipment failure. Dry ice cleaning removes these contaminants, improving readings and restoring machine efficiency, reliability, and safety.

 

One of the biggest concerns with steam and gas turbines is the risk of foreign material entrapment which not only reduces system efficiency, but can also lead to costly impact to components in the system loop or impact system chemistry. With dry ice blasting, the ice is transformed from a solid into a gas, which means there’s no residue or secondary waste generated.

 

Dry ice blasting cleans in-situ with minimal or no disassembly and re-assembly needed. With the dry ice blasting technique offered by Signature Blasting Services, downtime will be greatly reduced meaning minimal impact on your maintenance outage schedules and improved performance on run-up.