Cold Jet Dry Ice Blast Cleaning Systems Help Restore Minnesota Landmark

Historical Restoration

Dry Ice Blasting was used to help restore Split Rock Lighthouse, one of Minnesota's best known landmarks. Cold Jet's dry ice blast cleaning systems were used to remove cracked and peeling paint from inside and outside the Split Rock's lantern room, as well as clean the cast iron deck, and remove old titanium putty used to fill pits in the lighthouse's cast iron roof.

Dry ice blast cleaning removed the paint and putty from the interior and exterior of the lighthouse by accelerating recycled CO2 in the form of solid dry ice particles through a hose and high-velocity nozzle to create mini-explosions on the surface. The combination of the kinetic and thermal shock effects of dry ice blasting breaks the bond between the surface and the residue, which is blasted away and easily removed. The dry ice particles vaporize upon impact, leaving no other cleaning by-product, and eliminating the added cost and inconvenience of secondary waste treatment and disposal -- key reasons why dry ice blast cleaning was selected for the project.

The goal was only to remove the loose and flaking paint, mold surface containments, and putty, without damaging the interior or exterior of the lantern room. Because dry ice blast cleaning does not produce secondary waste, a shop vac was used to vacuum the paint and debris which had fallen to the floor after the blasting process.

Split Rock's previous restoration took place in 1991 when maintenance crews used soda blasting to remove old paint. While the blasting process, which uses a fine sodium powder, removed the paint, it was messy and left residue on the cast iron and also on the insides of the lighthouse and inner workings of the rare and expensive Fresnel lens components. As a result, crews were cleaning remnants of the soda blasting from the lighthouse for several years after the restoration project. Soda residue also did not allow the paint to completely bond to the surfaces of the lighthouse roof or lantern room.

Revised excerpts taken from an article in CINCINNATI, OH--(Marketwire - May 14, 2008)

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