What is dry ice blasting?

Dry ice blasting (CO₂ blasting) is a non-abrasive, non-conductive industrial cleaning method that uses solid CO₂ pellets accelerated by compressed air. Pellets sublimate on impact, leaving no secondary waste — only the original contaminant for disposal.

Is dry ice blasting safe on electrical equipment?

Yes. CO₂ is a non-conductive dielectric medium, so dry ice blasting is the preferred method for cleaning de-energized switchgear, motors, transformers, MCCs, generators, and bus ducts per NFPA 70E procedures.

Is dry ice blasting food-safe?

Yes. CO₂ is FDA, USDA, and EPA approved for cleaning food contact surfaces. No chemicals, no water, and no abrasive media are introduced.

Does dry ice blasting damage the substrate?

No. Dry ice is non-abrasive and does not erode steel, aluminum, paint, rubber, wood, or concrete when used with correct nozzle and pressure parameters.

How does dry ice blasting compare to sandblasting and pressure washing?

Unlike sandblasting, dry ice leaves no grit residue and does not erode substrates. Unlike pressure washing, dry ice introduces no water — no dry-out time, no rust, no electrical hazard, no contaminated runoff.

What areas does Dry Ice Blasting Of America serve?

All 48 contiguous United States, with planned outage support available to all 50 states. Standard scheduling within 1–2 weeks; emergency outage support within 24–72 hours. Call (866) 648-0030.

How quickly can DIBA mobilize for a power plant outage?

24–72 hours for emergency HRSG and power generation outages. Same-week mobilization for standard scope across the 48 contiguous states.

What is the typical ROI of switching to dry ice blasting?

Most customers see 40–80% reduction in downtime, 25–60% lower cleaning labor, and elimination of secondary waste disposal. Typical payback is 3–12 months with Year 1 ROI of 150–400%.

turbine cleaning

Dry Ice Blasting for Gas & Steam Turbines

Turbine performance degrades quietly. Fouled compressor blading, varnished casings, and carbon on hot-section hardware cost heat rate and output long before anything trips. Dry ice blasting removes that buildup during your outage window without abrading the parent metal or driving grit into clearances.

(866) 648-0030 Request a Free Quote

Gas and steam turbine components are dimensionally critical and often coated. Grit blasting removes substrate along with the deposit, changes surface profile, and leaves media in seals, bearings, and cooling passages that maintenance teams spend the rest of the outage chasing. Solvents introduce flammability, ventilation, and disposal problems inside an enclosure.

Dry ice pellets sublimate on impact, so nothing is left in the machine except the deposit that came off. Crews clean compressor blades and vanes, turbine casings and shells, diaphragms, rotor surfaces, bearing housings, lube-oil skids, exhaust ducting, and acoustic enclosures — usually in place, usually without waiting for a wash rack or a drying cycle.

Because the process is dry and non-conductive, adjacent instrumentation, generator collector rings, excitation gear, and control cabinets can stay where they are. That is the main reason turbine crews reach for CO₂ blasting during a compressed outage: fewer isolation steps, no drying window, and immediate re-assembly.

What We Remove

Oil varnish and lube-oil residue
Compressor blade fouling and airborne deposits
Carbon and combustion soot on hot-section hardware
Salt and industrial atmospheric deposits
Grease and hydraulic fluid on skids and enclosures
Insulation dust and general outage debris

What You Get

Recovered compressor efficiency and heat rate
Clean surfaces for NDT, borescope, and visual inspection
No abrasive media left in clearances or oil systems
No drying window before re-assembly
Reduced hand-scraping and solvent labor

Sequence

How a turbine cleaning Job Runs

01Walk down the unit with your outage lead and confirm isolation, LOTO, and confined-space requirements
02Mask or isolate instrumentation, open bearings, and any surface that must not be disturbed
03Set ventilation and CO₂ monitoring for enclosure and interior work
04Blast at pressures and feed rates matched to the substrate and coating condition
05Vacuum the released deposit and hand the surfaces over for inspection

Also Called CO₂ Cleaning

Maintenance teams search for this work as turbine cleaning, dry ice blasting, CO₂ cleaning, CO₂ blasting, dry ice blast cleaning, carbon dioxide blasting, and cryogenic cleaning. They all describe the same process — solid CO₂ pellets in compressed air, with no water, chemicals, or abrasive media, and no spent media to dispose of afterward.

Our Process

How a turbine cleaning Project Runs

Every project follows the same disciplined sequence — scoped to your facility, your safety program, and your shutdown window.

1. Site Walkdown & Scope
A specialist reviews your equipment, contaminants, access constraints, shutdown window, and safety requirements — by phone, video, or on-site walkdown.
2. Plan, Quote & Schedule
You receive a written scope of work and quote. We coordinate JSAs, lockout/tagout, hot work, confined space, and any plant-specific safety paperwork before mobilization.
3. Mobilization
Our crew arrives with diesel air compressors, blasting equipment, hose, PPE, CO₂ pellets, and supporting tools. Most projects are fully self-contained — no plant utilities required.
4. Cleaning & QC
Trained operators clean in place using non-abrasive dry ice. We work in shifts to match outage windows and document progress as we go.
5. Walkthrough & Turnover
A final walkthrough confirms results with your team. We leave the work area clean — no grit, no media, no slurry to dispose of.

Why Dry Ice Blasting

Why Facilities Choose This Method

Dry — No Water

CO₂ pellets sublimate on impact. No water intrusion into bearings, electrical components, or insulation; no drying time before restart.

Non-Abrasive

Helps protect tooling, fins, gaskets, and finished surfaces that grit blasting would profile or pit.

Non-Conductive

Suited for cleaning around electrical components when paired with proper LOTO, PPE, and clearance procedures.

No Secondary Waste

Only the removed contaminant needs to be collected. No spent blast media, no slurry, no chemical wash water.

In-Place Cleaning

Most equipment can be cleaned without disassembly — reducing labor, downtime, and re-commissioning risk.

FDA-GRAS CO₂

CO₂ is recognized by the FDA as Generally Recognized as Safe under cGMP, supporting use on food-zone equipment by trained operators.

Equipment & Surfaces We Commonly Clean

Conveyors, augers, and rollers
Motors, pumps, gearboxes
Robotic cells and end-of-arm tooling
Injection and compression molds
Heat exchangers and tube bundles
Switchgear, MCCs, transformers
Generators, rotors, stators
Turbines and inlet houses
Bakery ovens, mixers, fillers
Tanks, vessels, and structural steel

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Will dry ice blasting damage turbine blades or coatings?

No, when applied correctly. Dry ice is non-abrasive and does not remove parent metal. Pellet size, air pressure, feed rate, and standoff are all adjusted to the substrate, and coated hot-section hardware is treated at reduced settings. This is why the method is used on components where grit blasting is prohibited outright.

Can you clean a turbine without disassembly?

Frequently, yes. Casings, enclosures, exhaust ducting, lube-oil skids, and accessible compressor sections are routinely cleaned in place. Deeper hot-section work is done on components already pulled for inspection, which is where the no-media-residue advantage matters most.

How long does turbine cleaning take?

It depends entirely on scope and access. Enclosure and skid cleaning is often a single shift; a full compressor and casing scope during a major outage can run several shifts with multiple technicians. We size the crew to the window rather than the other way around.

Is CO₂ blasting acceptable to OEM guidelines?

Many owners and OEMs accept dry ice blasting specifically because it is non-abrasive and residue-free, but guidance varies by machine and coating system. Send us your OEM cleaning guidance and we will scope the work inside it.

Does dry ice blasting damage equipment?

Dry ice blasting is non-abrasive. Solid CO₂ pellets are much softer than sand, walnut shell, or soda media. The cleaning action comes from thermal shock and the kinetic effect of sublimating pellets — not abrasion. When operated correctly it removes contaminants while leaving the underlying substrate intact.

Can equipment stay in place during cleaning?

Yes. The dry, non-conductive process allows most equipment to be cleaned in place — including production lines, motors, robotics, switchgear, and turbines — provided proper lockout/tagout and clearance procedures are followed.

Looking for service in a specific state? See our locations, browse all services, or explore industries we serve.