Blocks & Pellets
Carbon Dioxide in its solid form of dry ice usually has a white opaque appearance.
Through a process known as sublimation, it will change directly to a vapor, leaving no liquid residue or clean up.
The sublimation temperature for Dry Ice is 109.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dry Ice is made by allowing liquid CO2 to expand through a nozzle into a chamber. A portion of the constricted
liquid vaporizes and cools the remaining CO2 to form fine solid dry ice particles, which are compressed into
solid dry ice blocks weighing approximately 55 pounds (see photo to the left). These large blocks are often sliced into many
commercially available shapes and sizes.
An alternate method is to expand liquid carbon dioxide into a chamber to form dry ice snow, which is then compressed
and extruded through a perforated plate to form nuggets or pellets (see photo to the right). There are several sizes of pellets available.
Currently Sparkling Carbonic carries only the larger size of pellets.
Sparkling Carbonic also supplies CO2
cyllinders to restaurants and other establishments in need of this gas. We have a CO2 tank on site to ensure
that we are always able to serve our clients needs.
Typical Applications
Dry ice is used in poultry, red meat and sausage plants to retard heat build-up, bacteria and
salmonella growth as well as to prevent water weight loss during shipment. In the bakery industry it is used
to mix ingredients, eliminate moisture and to keep yeast from working until the appropriate time.
Dry ice is used in a number of commercial applications including airline catering, the manufacture of
golf balls and fire extinguishers, flash freezing in the rubber industry, absorbing ammonia refrigeration
leaks and creating fog for the entertainment industry. It is used extensively in the manufacturing of plastics,
chemicals, beverages, pharmaceuticals, metals and many other products. Dry ice is also important to mining,
construction and a variety of laboratory and medical applications. One of the newest applications for dry ice
is dry ice blasting - similar to sandblasting, but without the mess and residue.