VeDa Dry Ice - Applications

Airline Catering

The airline industry caters food and beverages for travelers – particularly internationally – on long flights where multiple meals are a required service. How do stewardesses keep snacks, meals, and drinks cold for extended time spent in the sky? Dry ice over wet ice offers a less messy alternative with greater longevity to withstand the long hours necessary to keep food and beverages cold in the air.
Further, wet ice is prohibited on airlines, but dry ice is acceptable if packed correctly. A simple cooler bag inside insulated luggage is enough to get a personal shipment of food from point A to B via airline travel. The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority allots 5 kilos of dry ice or less, visibly labeled “dry ice” or “carbon dioxide, solid.” Approval by the airline is necessary prior to departure and also the same applies for carry-on luggage with dry ice, so long as it is rock solid, not in liquid form.

Cold Grinding

A solid sample material should always be sufficiently prepared by size reduction and homogenization before it is subjected to chemical or physical analysis. Care should be taken that the analysis sample fully represents the original material and that the sample preparation process is carried out reproducibly. Only then are meaningful results guaranteed. Most sample materials can be reduced to the required analytical fineness at room temperature by choosing a mill with a suitable size reduction principle (impact, pressure, friction, shearing, cutting).

However, there are limits for size reduction at room temperature, for example when even a small temperature increase affects the sample in a negative way; or when the material is very elastic and the above mentioned size reduction principles only cause deformation. The perfect solution for these types of samples is cold or cryogenic grinding. This involves grinding aids such as liquid nitrogen (-196 °C) or dry ice (-78 °C) which embrittle the sample by cooling and make it break more easily. Another advantage is the preservation of volatile components of the sample. In this white paper we explain for which sample materials cryogenic grinding is applicable, which laboratory mills are suitable and which other aspects need to be taken into consideration.
The material is put into a chamber, which is then flooded with dry ice, causing the material to become brittle and easy to grind. Cold grinding with dry ice is used in a variety of industries, such as pharmaceuticals, food, and plastics.

Winery

Dry ice is used in winery for transportation of the grapes from the vineyards preventing exposure to high temperatures and the start of fermentation or rapid fermentation. Dry ice reduces the possibility of deterioration due to oxidation and maintains the quality of the grapes

Dry ice is also used and during the wine making process, as it can slow the fermentation rate and help prevent bacterial growth.

Freeze Branding

One of the oldest forms of individual animal identification is branding. Brands are a form of permanent identification of livestock that serve as a theft deterrent. Brands can serve as both a method of herd identification (where each animal has the same herd identifier) as well as a method of individual animal identification (where each animal has a unique identifier). Freeze branding can be a relatively painless and very effective form of permanent animal and herd identification

Freeze Drying

Dry ice is used to swiftly freeze food and fruits (e.g. strawberries, blueberries, etc.). Dry ice is used and layered in a stockpot with quarts of berries that had been rinsed, hulled, and (very important here) dried. After 10 to 15 minutes, the berries are frozen solid, and you can turn the stuff out onto large sheet pans. Pick out the berries and pack them into quart-sized zipper freezer bags, and store them in the cold. No mess, no fuss, and no freezer burn on these berries!

Pharmaceutical Distribution

Dry Ice is a popular solution for maintaining the integrity of pharmaceuticals during shipping and distribution. The use of Dry Ice ensures that the samples remain at the appropriate temperature required for preservation and analysis, preventing any degradation or contamination of the samples.

Shrink Fitting

Dry Ice is used to create a temporary thermal contraction of the metal parts. The Dry Ice causes the metal to contract, getting smaller in its dimensions, which allows it to be easily fitted onto another object with greater accuracy.

Special Effects

Dry ice creates a fog effect because of its cold temperature (-78.5 °C). When immersed in hot water, it creates a cloud of water vapor fog. When the water is colder than 15 °C, the fog effect stops but the dry ice continues to sublimate and bubble. In general, it will last longer on a damp day than on a hot dry day.

Temperature Controlled Product Distribution

Road trips and camping getaways may also utilize dry ice to avoid the constant replacement of grocery-store-bought ice bags that leave messy pools of floating drinks. Personal food storage with a well-insulated cooler that prevents heat transfer can keep dry ice cold for several days.
As a pro tip, dry ice packs should always be placed at the bottom of the cooler as opposed to the top, to decrease the possibility of melting each time the cooler is opened and hot air enters. For road trips and camping trips, you may be able to get away with three or four days of refrigeration! One pound of dry ice will last for up to a day, so increase as necessary