Marine

Marine Dry Ice Blasting OVERVIEW

Precision Iceblast Corporation has provided services to the marine industry for decades. We provide full turnkey containment, ice blasting, garnet blasting, crushed glass blasting, cryobrasive™ blasting, and recoating. Applications consist of blasting and painting bulkheads, floors, ceilings, all types of tanks, hauls, decks, engine rooms, etc. Surface preparation with dry ice provides many advantages as there is no media to collect and it is safe on any surface. Abrasive blasting is used when necessary to provide profiles to the watercraft surfaces. Dust collectors and all necessary safety measures are taken during the blasting process. In addition, our NACE certified painting team provides quality coating work once blasting is completed.

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Marine Dry Ice Blasting and Watercraft Cleaning by Precision Iceblast Corporation

Dry ice blasting provides an environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative to the conventional abrasive blasting. It reduces waste by 80-90% and reduces costs by about 25%. Dry Ice blasting is a simple, non-abrasive cleaning process that uses CO2 pellets as impact medium for removing surface contaminants without the use of chemicals, abrasive materials, high temperatures, or steam. The solid pellets sublime directly after impact on the surface, leaving no solid residue after blasting. The technique can be used for cleaning surfaces, removing paint, or stripping contaminants from a surface.

PIC not only provides surface preparation and coating application services; it also provides technical assistance in selecting the proper marine coatings.

Ice blasting does a superior job preparing surfaces for painting. Our system is the most aggressive system in the world. We blast at 350 psi (24 bars) which ensures that all loose paint is removed from the surface and further paint failure will not occur underneath the new coating. Also, the dry ice particle penetrates any pores or crevices on steal surfaces, thereby removing any possible contaminant. Ice blasting removes all microorganisms and oils as well which can contribute to paint failure if they are not removed. Collectively, these characteristics of ice blasting provide the cleanest possible surface for applying a coating. Coatings can be applied immediately after the surface is ice blasted because it is completely clean and dry. If the surface is already wet, ice blasting will dry out the wet surface. Our technology creates the best surface for the paint to bond, therefore, providing the greatest longevity for the paint’s lifespan.

Our system is completely self-contained and we don’t use any of your utilities and won’t bother your company for any support once we get started. Our company is the ONLY ice blasting contracting company that manufactures their own equipment. We are very specialized and understand what it takes to get the best results when preparing a surface for recoating and our results can only be achieved with our specialized equipment. The high pressure we generate creates the deepest clean possible allowing for the cleanest possible surface for recoating.

Marine Dry Ice blasting services and cleaning by Precision Iceblast corporation
Kinetic Impact Effect
Marine Dry Ice blasting services and cleaning by Precision Iceblast corporation
Thermal and Fragility Effect
Marine Dry Ice blasting services and cleaning by Precision Iceblast corporation
Sublimation Effect
Marine Dry Ice blasting services and cleaning by Precision Iceblast corporation
Clean and damage-free surface

  • Environmentally Friendly
  • Less waste disposal
  • No remaining blast media left behind 
  • No secondary waste generated
  • No moisture left behind
  • Provides cleanest surface for coating
  • Can be fine-tuned for every application
  • Non-abrasive & Non-conductive
  • Non-toxic
  • Does not damage surfaces
  • Removes grit contamination from moving parts
  • Minimizes downtime and costs
  • Shutdown not required for most applications
  • Does not create downstream contamination

When a substrate is heavily corroded or if a profile is needed for a particular coating, additional steps are taken to further mitigate the deterioration. First, a dry ice blast will be performed to provide a clean substrate. Once the substrate is cleaned, we determine areas that may not have an anchor profile and address those areas with a dry ice / garnet cryobrasive™ solution.

This is very beneficial as a minimal amount of abrasive needs to be added to the dry ice so you are left with very little dust, clean up, or disposal. A near white metal surface is still created and an anchor profile is achieved which is typically between a 1.5 to 2.5 mils. The benefits to this process are a dramatically reduced amount of abrasive, the cleanest possible surface, and an anchor profile achieved.

Traditional methods would be a straight abrasive blasting which would result in truckloads of abrasive and debris to remove afterwards. On average we can reduce waste by a minimum of 90% and upwards to 99% depending on deterioration levels. Any areas of coating remaining are considered a sound solid substrate and acceptable to receive a new coating.

  • Micro-organisms 
  • Mold
  • Fungus
  • Mildew
  • Bacteria
  • Algae
  • Poor Surface Preparation 
  • Provides the most Superior prepared surface for recoating
  • Dust Free
  • Micro-Organisms removed/killed 
  • Chemical Free Substrate 
  • No Embedded Fouling 
  • All Contaminants removed

The kinetic impact energy, arising from the mass of dry ice particles and their velocity, is converted into intensive cleaning energy.

The sudden selective cooling generates considerable stress in the intermediate zone due to different coefficients of expansion. There is a connection between the layer of success and the surface.

Organic materials harden and become brittle under the influence of cold. This reduces its elasticity and stickiness and simplifies removal.

The transfer of heat from the relatively hot surface to be cleaned by the very cold particle makes the solid CO2 sublime into a gaseous state immediately. The gas expands up to 800 times the volume of particles in a few milliseconds, producing “micro explosions.”

  • United States Coast Guard 
  • United States Navy
  • Fincantieri
  • New York Department of Transportation
  • State of Michigan
  • Bay Ship Building
  • Interlake Steamship
  • Dann Marine