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 Dry-Ice Blasting for Mold Remediation

Unlike other media in a blast system, dry ice does not damage or wear on plumbing or electrical, is a completely dry process and is effective on removing surface mold. Dry-ice blasting does not require chemicals to kill mold.
Note: Dry-ice blasting is not very effective at removing dark deep mold staining on attic ceilings. It best used for just removing surface mold, not deeper mold staining commonly found on attic ceilings from years of condensation build-up. To remove deep mold staining we prefer to use a very specialized mold stain removal product for wooden surfaces.

Dry-Ice Blasting Before & After Pictures

on a 7/2013 attic mold remediation job

this attic ceiling had a high level of aspergillus mold growth

 

Attic Ceiling Mold Removal - Before Pictures

(click to expand)

 

Attic Ceiling Mold Removal - After Pictures (same attic)

                                                  

 

                                    Dry-Ice Blasting - How it Works 

Dry ice blasting for mold remediation uses four physical properties of air-propelled dry ice pellets: velocity, abrasion, thermal shock, and evaporation. Dry ice is solid (frozen) carbon dioxide. For blasting uses, dry ice is manufactured in pellets of various sizes appropriate to the substrate to be cleaned. The pellets are hurled from a blasting gun by air pressure, which provides the velocity. When the pellets strike the surface to be cleaned, three things happen. First the velocity of the pellet strikes the substance to be removed. Because dry ice is at a temperature of -109 degrees F., the thermal shock helps loosen and lift the substance to be removed. Finally, the dry ice pellet flashes into carbon dioxide gas, providing more lift to the substance to be removed. The carbon dioxide gas is harmless, leaving no cleaning material such as soda or sand, to be cleaned up after blasting.

 

Complete mold removal and remediation requires solving the moisture problem that enabled the mold to grow in the first place. A mold needs food, such as wood; moisture; and a temperature range favorable to the growth of the specific mold organism.
Note: Dry-ice blasting does not work well on removing deep mold staining like found on attic ceilings. We offer better performing treatment options on removing mold growth and deeper mold staining when found on wooden surfaces.

 

 

 

                                                  high density dry-ice pellets

 

 

Dry-Ice-Blasting - Technical Information

 

Pellet Kinetic Energy

The dry-ice blasting process incorporates high velocity (supersonic) nozzles for surface preparation and coating removal applications. Since kinetic impact force is a product of the pellet mass and velocity over time.

Even at high impact velocities and direct head-on impact angles, the kinetic effect of solid CO2 pellets is minimal when compared to other media (grit, sand, PMB). This is due to the relative softness of a solid CO2, which is not as dense and hard, as other projectile media. This characteristic is a plus. This prevents damage to the wood surfaces and electrical wiring. Also, the pellet changes phase from a solid to a gas almost instantaneously upon impact, which effectively provides an almost nonexistent coefficient of restitution in the impact equation. Very little impact energy is transferred into the coating or substrate, so the blasting process is considered to be nonabrasive.

Thermal Shock Effect

Instantaneous sublimation (phase change from solid to gas) of CO2 pellet upon impact absorbs maximum heat from the very thin top layer of surface coating or contaminant. The very rapid transfer of heat into the pellet from the coating top layer creates an extremely large temperature differential between successive micro-layers within the coating. This sharp thermal gradient produces localized high shear stresses between the micro-layers. The high shear produced over a very brief expanse of time causes rapid micro-crack propagation between the layers leading to coating final bond failure at the surface of the substrate.

Thermal-Kinetic Effect

The combined impact energy dissipation and extremely rapid heat transfer between the pellet and the surface cause instantaneous sublimation of the solid CO2 into gas. The gas expands to nearly 800 times the volume of the pellet in a few milliseconds in what is effectively a "Micro-explosion" at the point of impact.

The "Micro-explosion," as the pellet changes to gas, is further enhanced for lifting thermally-fractured coating particles from the substrate. This is because of the pellet's lack of rebound energy, which tends to distribute its mass along the surface during the impact. The CO2 gas expands outward along the surface and its resulting "explosion shock front" effectively provides an area of high pressure focused between the surface and the thermally fractured coating particles. This results in a very efficient lifting force to carry the particles away from the surface.

 

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Don't see your town listed? Please call to see if we service that area. 

                                                                     Massachusetts Towns We Service

                                               Acton MA,   Boxboro MA,   Boxborough  Mass,   Carlisle Mass,    Concord MA,   Lincoln MA,
                                               Bedford MA,  Burlington MA,  N. Billerica MA,    Concord MA,  Lexington MA,   Woburn MA,
                                               Arlington MA,   Belmont MA,   Lexington MASS,   Lincoln MA,   Wayland MA,   Weston MA,
                                               Ayer MA,   Billerica MA,  Groton MA,   Harvard MA,  Littleton MA,  Pepperell MA,  Stow MA,
                                               Amesbury MA,   Haverhill Mass,   Newburyport MA,   West Newbury MA,   W. Newbury MA,
                                               Beverly Farms MA,  Manchester-by-the- Sea, Groveland MA,  Salisbury MA,   Tewksbury MA,  
                                               Danvers MA,  Essex , Wenham,  Gloucester MA,  Middleton MA, Peabody MA, Rockport MA,
                                               Bedford MA,  Burlington MA,  Chelmsford MA,  Lowell,   Tyngsborough  MA,  Westford MA,
                                               Andover MA,   Boxford MA,  N. Andover MA,   Merrimac MA,  Newbury MA,  Topsfield MA,
                                               Beverly MA,  Georgetown MA,   Hamilton MA,  Ipswich MA,  Newburyport MA,  Rowley MA,
                                               E. Bridgewater MA,   Hanover MA,   Rockland MA,    Hingham MA,   Pembroke MA,   Hull MA,
                                               Cohasset MA,  Duxbury MA,   Kingston MA,   Marshfield MA,    Plymouth MA,   Scituate MA,
                                               Attleboro MA,  Norton MA, Stoughton MA,  Blackstone MA, Brockton MA,  Bridgewater MA,
                                               Braintree MA,     Carver MA,     Plymouth MA,    Quincy MA,    Abington MA,    Randolph MA,
                                               Dedham MA,   Easton MA,    Westwood MA,   Walpole MA,     Norwood MA,   Mansfield MA,
                                               Bellingham MA,   Berkley MA,   Foxboro MA,   Foxborough MA,  Franklin MA,  Wareham MA,
                                               Dartmouth MA, Swansea MA,  N.Attleboro MA,   W.Bridgewater MA,   West Bridgewater MA,
                                               Carver MA, MA,   Halifax MA,   Mendon MA,  Hopedale MA,   Raynham MA,   Wrentham MA,
                                               Hanson MA,  Halifax MA,   Holbrook MA,  Norwell MA, Avon,  Weymouth MA, Whitman MA,
                                               Medfield MA,   Medway MASS,   Middleboro MASS,    Milford MA,   Millis MA,   Norfolk MA,
                                               Canton MA, Dedham MA, Milton MA, Norwood MA,  Sharon MA, Stoughton, Westwood MA,
                                               Dover MA, Natick MA,Needham MA, Newton MA,Waltham MA, Wayland MA,Wellesley MA,
                                               Holliston MA, Hopkinton MA,  Marion MA, Marlboro MA,  Westborough MA,  Westboro MA,
                                               Ashland MA,  Carlisle MA,  Framingham MA, Natick,  Sherborn MA,   Stow MA,   Sudbury MA,
                                               Dracut MA,    Dunstable  MA,    Littleton MA,     Lowell MA,     Methuen MA,    Tyngsboro MA,
                                               Berlin MA,  Bolton MA,  Hudson MA, Upton MA,  Marlborough MA, Maynard MA,  Stow MA,
                                               North Andover MA,  N. Reading  MASS,   North Reading MA,   Reading MA,   Wilmington MA,
                                               Berlin MA,  Clinton MA,  Northboro  MA,  Northborough,   Southboro MA,  Southborough MA,
                                               Lynnfield MA,  Magnolia MA,  Manchester MA, Marblehead MA,  Salem MA, Swampscott MA,
                                               Melrose MA,   Saugus MA,    Stoneham MA,   Wakefield MA,   Winchester MA,    Woburn MA,
                                               Allston MA,  Chestnut Hill MA,   Brighton MA,    Brookline MA,   Newton MA,  Cambridge MA,
                                               Everett MA,   Lynn MA,   Nahant MA,  Revere MA,   South End,  S. Boston MA,  Winthrop MA,
                                               Dorchester MA,      Hyde Park  MASS,     Jamaica Plain MA,      Lawrence MA,      Roslindale MA,
                                               Boston MA,    Back Bay,     Charlestown MA,   Chelsea MA,   Medford MA,    South Boston MA,
                                               East Boston MA,    E. Boston MA,   North End,    Malden MA,   Cambridge MA,   Somerville MA,
                                               Attleboro MA,   Sutton MA,    Northbridge MA,   Oxford MA,   Uxbridge MA,    Worchester MA,
                                               Douglas MA,   Grafton MA,   Middleborough MA,    Millbury MA,    Millville MA,  Taunton MA,
                                               Dunstable MA,   Harvard MA,   Clinton MA,   Bolton MA,   Lancaster MA,   West Boylston MA,
                                               Sterling MA,  Princeton MA,   Boylston MA,  Westminster MA,   Gardner MA,   Leominster MA,
                                               Fitchburg MA,  Lunenburg MA,   Townsend MA,    Ashby MA,   Ashburnham MA,   Athol MA,
                                              

                                                                 Southern New Hampshire Towns We Service

                                               Brookline NH,  Mason NH,  Greenville NH,   New Ipswich NH, Hollis NH,  Wilton NH,  Milford NH, 
                                               Litchfield NH, Amherst NH, Merrimack NH, Derry NH, Londonderry NH, Newton,  Hampstead NH,
                                               Seabrook NH,   Hampton Falls NH,   Hampton NH,   North Hampton NH,   Rye NH,   Greenland NH,
                                               Stratham NH,  Exeter NH,  Kensington NH,  Newton NH, Brentwood NH, Fremont NH, Danville NH,
                                               Atkinson NH,    Sandown NH,    Chester NH,     Danville NH,    South  Danville  NH,    Kingston NH,
                                               Manchester NH,  Epping NH, Fremont NH, Raymond NH, Candia NH, Auburn NH,  Brentwood NH,
                                               Concord  NH,  Allentown NH, Pembroke NH,  Hooksett NH,  Bow NH,  Goffstown NH, Bedford NH,
                                                                 Nashua NH, Windham NH,  Hudson NH,  Pelham NH,   Plaistow NH,  Salem NH,