Making dry ice at home

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Dry ice is a solid carbon dioxide (dioxide) that quickly turns into steam at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The liquid phase is bypassed.

Externally, carbon dioxide really resembles ordinary ice (hence the name). The temperature of "dry ice" is close to -79˚С. It “melts”, absorbing 590 kJ/kg. Non-toxic. It is used primarily for cooling perishable products during transportation or in the absence of refrigerators.

Dry ice is in demand in engineering, foundry, rubber products, plastics and polymers processing, water/railway transport, laboratories and other industries (facade restoration, wood surface cleaning, ventilation system cleaning).

Commercial production of carbon dioxide requires carbon dioxide plants. Getting dry ice (the price of a kilogram ranges from 35 to 45 rubles, depending on the region and the complexity of delivery) is not always possible. First of all, factors such as remoteness from the place of production of carbon dioxide and the complexity of transportation play a role here (special (thermal) containers are needed). But ifthese problems are still solvable, then what to do with the urgency? After all, there are situations when solid carbon dioxide is needed immediately, and its search and delivery can take not only hours, but even days.

It turns out that even in a seemingly hopeless situation, you can make time work for you by preparing solid carbon dioxide at home for several minutes.

Want to know how to make dry ice? Everything new, as you know, forgotten old. One has only to remember the school curriculum.

To make your own small amount of dry ice you will need:

- fire extinguisher (carbon dioxide, with OU type marking, the other is not suitable);

- bag made of thick cotton fabric;

- mittens (felt or cotton, but very thick);

- face mask (or at least goggles).

The carbon dioxide fire extinguisher (OU marking) is already filled with carbon dioxide, which is in a liquid state (under pressure) and reaches a rather low temperature at the outlet (approximately -72 ° C). That is why safety precautions (gloves, mask) are so important.

Let's get started. We take a fire extinguisher, remove the seal from it and pull out the safety pin from the handle. We put the bag prepared in advance on the socket, lay the balloon on the floor (on its side) and gently, slowly, press the lever. By intermittent frequent pressing, we gradually release carbon dioxide. Prior to this, it is important to fix the bag on the bell(just press it with your hand), otherwise it will fly off (under pressure) from the first press.

When the bag is full, release the lever and turn the contents inside out - you will see pieces of the very dry ice that we so badly need.

Long-term storage of the received product is possible only at a temperature of -80°C and below. It is almost impossible to create such conditions at home, but you can extend the life of dry ice by creating a kind of thermos. A cardboard box lined inside with polyethylene and foam is quite suitable. Air circulation must be excluded.