Carbon dioxide cleaning

[4]: 270 CO2 cleaning has found application in many industries and technical areas, including aerospace, automotive, electronics, medical, manufacturing, basic and applied research, and optics.

[8] Snow cleaning works by a combination of momentum transfer (mechanically dislodging contaminant particles) and solvent action.

[8] The CO2 also dissolves hydrocarbon contaminants, and its low temperature embrittles residues such as fingerprints, making them easier to blow away.

[2][9] Snow cleaning has found application in the aeronautical, automotive, medical, optical, semiconductor, and space industries.

At temperatures and pressures above its critical point, CO2 can be maintained as a supercritical fluid, exhibiting extremely low viscosity and high solvency.

[4]: 276 The introduction of CO2 snow cleaning, with its ability to remove sub-micron-scale particles, is credited to Stuart Hoenig of the University of Arizona, who first published on the topic in 1985–1986.

[14] CO2 snow cleaning was further developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, for the purpose of removing paint from aircraft fuselages.

[9] Nozzle design is the most significant factor in carbon dioxide snow cleaning performance, affecting the size and velocity of the dry ice particles.

In addition, care must be taken to prevent the concentration of carbon dioxide in the work area from exceeding safe levels.

[4]: 292–294 Ionization caused by the flowing gas can result in potentially damaging static charge buildup on non-conductive parts.