Cleaning Surfaces with Dry Ice
Cleaning delicate surfaces using sub-micron sized solid carbon dioxide particles propelled by gaseous carbon dioxide (i.e., “Snow” or “CO2 Aerosol Spray”) was first proposed by Dr. Stuart Hoenig (University of Arizona), in Hoenig, S.A., “Cleaning Surfaces with Dry Ice”, Compressed Air Magazine, August 1986, pp. 22-25 (Hoenig 1986).
Fong's (Lockheed Aircraft) Pellet Blast Process
During the 1970’s, Calvin Fong, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Burbank California, developed the very first surface cleaning process utilizing “sublimable particles” – solid carbon dioxide pellets – entrained in a compressed air stream. Shown in Fig. 1, the Fong invention is described in detail in U.S. Patent No. 4,038,786, “Sandblasting with pellets of material capable of sublimation”, August 1977 (Fong 1977).
CO2 Composite Spray Technology Development
CO2 Composite Spray™ technology can claim its beginnings going back to the late 1970’s with the introduction of Fong’s pellet blasting innovations when he was working for Lockheed Aircraft. CO2 pellet blasting employs a mixture of small (sublimable) solid CO2 pellets (used almost exclusively for food packing refrigeration) introduced into a compressed air stream to blast contaminated surfaces free of gross contamination.
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