Uses for Dry Ice
Artificial Snow: In the 1940s, Vincent Schaefer invented artificial snow in a laboratory at the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire. He was only trying to create an artificial cloud in a closed chamber, but he realized that the temperature was too high for clouds to form. He used dry ice inside the chamber to lower the temperature, but water vapor began to appear around the dry ice. The crystals of dry ice, acted as nuclei to form snowflakes, which eliminated the need to wait for water to condense around a particle of dust, salt or sand. In 1946, Shaefer took his experience in the field, creating the modern method of artificial snow production. In essence, he dumped dry ice in natural clouds already hanging over Mount Greylock. The dry ice crystals acted the same way as they had in the laboratory, producing artificial snow in the clouds, which then fell to the ground.
Cleaning:
This new development is expanding rapidly worldwide. One system uses small rice size pellets of dry ice shooting out of a nozzle with compressed air. It works like water or high pressure steam or sand blasting, with superior results. The cold temperature of dry ice, at -109.3 ° F or -78.5 ° C, hitting against the material to be removed, causes it to shrink and lose adhesion to the workpiece surface. The gas has 800 times greater volume and accelerates the removal. Paint, oil, grease, asphalt, tar, decals, soot, dirt, ink, resins and adhesives are some of the materials removed in this procedure. Only the removed material should be disposed of because the dry ice evaporates into the atmosphere. This method replaces sandblasting, steam or water blasting, and environmentally damaging solvents.
Food Storage:
Placing dry ice in a food storage container is a very economical way to fumigate and store dry goods for a long time. Put one quarter pound of Dry ice per five-gallon storage container in the bottom and then pour in the dry food. As the Dry Ice sublimates it replaces the oxygen in the container with CO2. Leave the lid on but not tightly sealed until the Dry Ice completely sublimates. (About 5-6 hours) Then snap the lid tight. Without oxygen, neither bugs nor bacteria can grow. This process is good for seeds, grains, legumes, flower, powdered milk, etc.
Dents and Hail Damage:
Dry ice will condense metal and thereby reduce small dents in your car. Wear heavy gloves and press the sheet flat against the dent. Keep against until the metal is frosted at least 2 inches beyond the dent. Let the metal come back to normal temperature and repeat the procedure. Sometimes, the dent will pop out perfectly. More often it is not possible to obtain a smooth, flat surface, but the blow will be reduced substantially. Crumpled metal will still show the crease line but the dent will be much less pronounced.
Medical:
Doctors, to freeze skin for wart removal, use Dry Ice or liquid nitrogen. Many medical offices ship biological specimens in Dry Ice for laboratory testing or further processing. Dry Ice is also used to keep bone morrow frozen when it is shipped.
Entertainment:
One of the uses for on stage props that creates the look of fog or smoke is dry ice. It is readily available and easy to maneuver into positions that will add a lot of atmosphere to the music being played. It is most widely used during concerts but occasionally during plays or musicals.
These are six of the major present uses for dry ice. Other uses also include home made root beer, carbonate liquids, removing floor tiles, gopher eradication, protection of sport fish and game, branding, transporting plants, plant growth, chemical retardants, pressurizing agents, inerting mediums, shrink fittings, deflashing molded plastics and rubber, fresh meat processing, mosquitoes, wells, oil industry, baking industry, air quality testing and finally fumigation.
In the past, dry ice was much more widely used for refrigeration and freezing of food in the middle of the twentieth century than it is today. Virtually all ice cream parlors in the world used dry ice to keep ice cream until well after World War II, when electric refrigeration became affordable and effective.
Although the use of dry ice in refrigeration and storage of foods is diminishing, its use in other areas is promising. As mentioned above, house cleaners and machine operators are interested in the tiny dry ice pellets for their ability to remove dirt or other contaminants, and then let the dry ice dissipate into the atmosphere. Recently a telephone company used dry ice to safely clean sensitive electronic equipment without using hazardous solvents. Collision repair industries have discovered that there was use for dry ice with dents in the car bodies, which can sometimes eliminate disfigurement.
Cleaning:
This new development is expanding rapidly worldwide. One system uses small rice size pellets of dry ice shooting out of a nozzle with compressed air. It works like water or high pressure steam or sand blasting, with superior results. The cold temperature of dry ice, at -109.3 ° F or -78.5 ° C, hitting against the material to be removed, causes it to shrink and lose adhesion to the workpiece surface. The gas has 800 times greater volume and accelerates the removal. Paint, oil, grease, asphalt, tar, decals, soot, dirt, ink, resins and adhesives are some of the materials removed in this procedure. Only the removed material should be disposed of because the dry ice evaporates into the atmosphere. This method replaces sandblasting, steam or water blasting, and environmentally damaging solvents.
Food Storage:
Placing dry ice in a food storage container is a very economical way to fumigate and store dry goods for a long time. Put one quarter pound of Dry ice per five-gallon storage container in the bottom and then pour in the dry food. As the Dry Ice sublimates it replaces the oxygen in the container with CO2. Leave the lid on but not tightly sealed until the Dry Ice completely sublimates. (About 5-6 hours) Then snap the lid tight. Without oxygen, neither bugs nor bacteria can grow. This process is good for seeds, grains, legumes, flower, powdered milk, etc.
Dents and Hail Damage:
Dry ice will condense metal and thereby reduce small dents in your car. Wear heavy gloves and press the sheet flat against the dent. Keep against until the metal is frosted at least 2 inches beyond the dent. Let the metal come back to normal temperature and repeat the procedure. Sometimes, the dent will pop out perfectly. More often it is not possible to obtain a smooth, flat surface, but the blow will be reduced substantially. Crumpled metal will still show the crease line but the dent will be much less pronounced.
Medical:
Doctors, to freeze skin for wart removal, use Dry Ice or liquid nitrogen. Many medical offices ship biological specimens in Dry Ice for laboratory testing or further processing. Dry Ice is also used to keep bone morrow frozen when it is shipped.
Entertainment:
One of the uses for on stage props that creates the look of fog or smoke is dry ice. It is readily available and easy to maneuver into positions that will add a lot of atmosphere to the music being played. It is most widely used during concerts but occasionally during plays or musicals.
These are six of the major present uses for dry ice. Other uses also include home made root beer, carbonate liquids, removing floor tiles, gopher eradication, protection of sport fish and game, branding, transporting plants, plant growth, chemical retardants, pressurizing agents, inerting mediums, shrink fittings, deflashing molded plastics and rubber, fresh meat processing, mosquitoes, wells, oil industry, baking industry, air quality testing and finally fumigation.
In the past, dry ice was much more widely used for refrigeration and freezing of food in the middle of the twentieth century than it is today. Virtually all ice cream parlors in the world used dry ice to keep ice cream until well after World War II, when electric refrigeration became affordable and effective.
Although the use of dry ice in refrigeration and storage of foods is diminishing, its use in other areas is promising. As mentioned above, house cleaners and machine operators are interested in the tiny dry ice pellets for their ability to remove dirt or other contaminants, and then let the dry ice dissipate into the atmosphere. Recently a telephone company used dry ice to safely clean sensitive electronic equipment without using hazardous solvents. Collision repair industries have discovered that there was use for dry ice with dents in the car bodies, which can sometimes eliminate disfigurement.
