Dry ice blasting cleans molds while still hot and in the press

Most would agree that the mold is the heart of any injection molding process. Injection mold cleaning is a critical component of producing quality products. Maintenance practices, including your cleaning techniques, can contribute to mold wear.

Plastic injection mold cleaning with dry ice addresses the most common goals we hear from injection molders:

• Reduce labor and cleaning costs
• Improve operational efficiency and quality (Quality OEE Score)
• Obtain faster cleaning cycles (Availability OEE Score)
• Extend service life of injection molds
• Be environmentally friendly and sustainable

Dry Ice Cleaning Lowers costs of Plastic Injection Mold Cleaning

Lowering costs is always an objective for all plant operations.

One of the components of lower costs is the actual cleaning materials.

A published independent study compared the annualized costs of cleaning with a traditional injection mold cleaner like Hexane Aerosol spray cans vs. dry ice cleaning. The report noted the company had an annualized cost of $56,174 for the Hexane Aerosol and an annualized costs of $6,198 for dry ice blasting (system purchase, same labor).

Another component of saving costs is reducing labor costs. This is closely related to the goal of obtaining faster cleaning cycles, thus improving productivity. Facilities cleaning plastic injection molds in-situ at operating temperatures with dry ice cleaning extend production runs and improve Availability OEE scores. Mold cleaning times for many molders went from hours to minutes.

Hear what dry ice blasting customers are saying about dry ice cleaning decreasing cleaning time and costs:

• Marquardt went from 4 hours with their previous injection mold cleaning methods to 5-10 minutes with dry ice cleaning.
• TC Connectivity went from 6-12 hours to 1 hour with dry ice cleaning.
• Silgan Plastics noted, “We eliminated nearly 3 days of downtime by using Cold Jet’s dry ice blaster to clean the injection screws on our presses.”
• Husky notes, “Our customers will find a fast and easy cleaning solution that will help them significantly reduce system downtime and improve productivity."
• Tyco noted, “Our focus on lean manufacturing and the Cold Jet machine’s capability of improving total production process was one of the main reasons that dry ice cleaning captured our attention.”
• Vernay noted, “The greatest value of the Cold Jet system to our operations has been the ability to extend our running time.”

Below is an ROI example comparing plastic injection mold cleaning with dry ice blasting and manual cleaning.

Learn more about dry ice blasting for plastic injection mold cleaning

Dry Ice Cleaning Injection Molds In-Situ Improves OEE Scores

Injection mold cleaning is often postponed due to the resulting downtime associated with the cooldown, disassembly, and reassembly processes.

Cleaning with dry ice simplifies the process and often leads to celebrating mold cleaning instead of postponing it. Cleaning plastic injection molds in-situ at operating temperatures not only minimizes downtime, but provides a better cleaning result.

The result = better cleaning quality and improved Quality OEE scores.

Numerous molding problems occur when vents become clogged or cavities are fouled from off-gasses: short shots, flash, splay, burns, plateout, contamination, weld lines, and even mold damage can occur.

Traditional injection mold cleaners can be very labor-intensive, slow, and often ineffective in hard-to-reach mold geometries.

Dry ice has very low surface tension and is able to penetrate into commonly difficult places to clean.

Dry ice cleaning customers are seeing results:

• MPC noted, “Dry ice blasting definitely results in a superior clean.”
• Electrolux noted that dry ice cleaning is “more efficient with relation to the quality of the clean”.
• Diehl noted that cleaning with dry ice blasting had “a decisive influence on the quality of our products”. After numerous intensive cleaning processes were tried, the material supplier recommended that they switch to dry ice cleaning.
• Husky, a major supplier of molding machines, notes, “Dry ice blasting definitely results in a superior clean, with less downtime. The detail of cleaning we get with Cold Jet’s system allows us to clean areas that otherwise could not be cleaned.”

Extend the Service Life of Injection Molds with Dry Ice Cleaning

Cleaning plastic injection molds with dry ice not only addresses the most common goals we hear from molders, but it will also extend the asset life of the molds. Independent studies have confirmed that dry ice is a non-abrasive way to clean injection molds.

Whether your molds have coatings, have Class A1-D3 surface finishes, are cleaned in-situ at operating temperatures or ambient on the bench, cleaning molds with dry ice will not wear out the tool.

See what dry ice blasting customers are saying about cleaning plastic injection molds:

• Performance Plastics commented, “Cleaning with Cold Jet will not roll parting lines, change or destroy the metal.”
• Miniature Precision Components noted, “The process is quick and does not dull the tools.”
• An independent study with Kettering University noted, “no noticeable damage after blasting” when tested with a profilometer after blasting stationary for 60 seconds from a distance of 25mm on die steel.
• An independent study to measure any thermal stress during blasting on hot molds at 300 degrees F concluded “no chance of thermal stress occurring to the substrate metal”. “The temperature differences between the hot mold and the cold dry ice will not cause cracking.” (Smode. James A., CO2 Pellet Cleaning – A preliminary
  Evaluation, Materials & Process Associates, Inc.)

Dry Ice Cleaning is Environmentally Friendly and Safe for Employees

A major consideration for any plastic injection mold cleaning operation is its environmental impact as well as any risks that it may present to workers. This is often a driver toward implementing a new cleaning process beyond a performance ROI.

Cleaning plastic injection molds with dry ice is often a replacement for traditional cleaning methods involving toxic solvents often containing VOCs and requiring an operator to come into close physical contact with the mold.

Dry ice cleaning is noted as being environmentally friendly. The CO2 feedstock utilized in the production of dry ice is a recycled by-product from many industrial processes. Industrial gas companies reclaim CO2 from petrochemical plants, distilleries, and fertilizer plants, giving it a second life. Because dry ice is manufactured from reclaimed CO2, government agencies such as the EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) note that using it does not contribute to your greenhouse gas score calculation. It has already been accounted for at the source of production and is not counted a second time at the point of use.

The EPA also classifies CO2 as a Green Circle ingredient in their Safer Choice program. That’s the greenest classification in their program. While the Safer Choice program does not provide labels for equipment, the use of dry ice (100% CO₂) for cleaning is viewed favorably by the EPA.

See what customers are saying about plastic injection mold cleaning with dry ice benefiting their environmental and employee safety initiatives:

• Geberit Productions AG notes that, “this process supports our environmental program.”
• Electrolux notes how cleaning with dry ice “aligns with our environmental initiatives and reduces overall risk.”
• A Raymond notes, “The safety of the workers has been increased, and the process is environmentally friendly.”

Want to learn more about dry ice blasting for plastic injection mold cleaning?

• Learn about Cold Jet dry ice cleaning's benefits and applications for injection mold cleaning.
  
  
• Check out this case study on how an Injection molder reduced maintenance cycles by 50%, reducing costs and downtime.
  
  
• Listen to this webinar on What Every Plastic Processor Needs to Know about Dry Ice Blasting.
  
  
• Download our white paper The Magic of Dry Ice Cleaning in Plastic Molding.
  
  
• Contact us to run a ROI calculation for your facility.