Greystone Graphics – Dry Environment – Dry Ice Cleaning
Equipment Cleaning – Printing Industry

Greystone Graphics is a high volume printing company located in the Kansas City Metro Area. Over time, their standard maintenance procedures are not able to remove all of the ink buildup on the gears, gripper bars and adjustment knobs. In addition to the internal machine cleaning, the external steel skirt around the Komori press had become stained with ink during routine operations.

Over the course of two Saturdays, Blast-it-Clean utilized 3 dry ice cleaning machines cleaning 37 hours to return (2) printing presses to a baseline level of cleanliness. By utilizing multiple dry ice machines we were able to control the length of each day and the impact it would have on the Greystone staff. The machine cleaning was finished on schedule each Saturday, allowing the Greystone staff the time they required to bring the machines back on line to meet their production requirements.

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3-M Plant, Nevada, MO – Dry Environment – Soda Blasting
Equipment Cleaning – Industrial Cleaning

Glue and grime had built up on various pieces of printing equipment in the plant. Hand cleaning over the years had allowed a significant amount of buildup to occur. Due to the nature of the plant, it was not feasible to bring in any type of automated process into the plant to clean the machinery in place. Blast-it-Clean constructed a portable garage size blast booth in the parking lot adjacent to the plant. The machinery was placed in the booth utilizing a forklift. Baking soda cleaning was performed and the equipment was moved back into the production facility and additional equipment was cycled through. Phase one of this project encompassed a full week of cleaning. To achieve this same level of cleaning by hand would have required over 500 man-hours.

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3-M Plant, Nevada, MO – Dry Environment – Dry Ice Cleaning
Equipment Cleaning – Industrial Cleaning

Ink and glue buildup on equipment utilized to produce large-scale graphics required cleaning. The glue buildup was slick and causing potential safety hazards. In addition to the potential hazard, the effectiveness of the production process was being affected. Dry Ice cleaning was performed on all visible surfaces of the machinery; the scope of the project also included the cleaning of the internal rollers and components.  The scope of the project required the crew to remain on site for 5 days to complete the project.

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KCI Incorporated/Certainteed, Inc. – Dry Environment – Black Beauty Blasting
Equipment Cleaning

The largest fiberglass oven in the world was scheduled for overhaul and upgrade. Blast-It-Clean was hired to blast the interior of the oven. The blast media selected for this project was Black Beauty, a coal slag product. The project was time sensitive and required that 80 hours of blasting be performed in a 36 hour window. The production schedule was established based on the deployment of 4 blast pots and crews to blast non-stop until the media blasting portion of the project was completed. This project was completed ahead of schedule and on budget

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American Italian Pasta – Dry Environment – Ground Wheat Blasting
Industrial Cleaning

The epoxy coating on the interior metal funnels at the bottom of the wheat silos had started to fail. The silos were also experiencing buildup on the interior concrete walls. The chipping coatings were starting to cause problems with product quality. The problem required the use of a cleaning media that would not contaminate the interior of the silos. It was determined that American Italian Pasta could coarsely grind Semolina Wheat to a consistency that could then work as a custom blasting media for the blasting process. The use of this material would not contaminate the interior, but it was strong enough to get the job complete. The project required the use of Confined Space Entry Training, rigging to lower and raise the access cage into the silo and the use of oxygen monitors while crewmembers were in the silos performing the cleaning and coatings removal. Explosive proof lighting, safety harness and pneumatic driven media blasting equipment were utilized to ensure compliance with plant safety requirements.

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Cereal Food Processors – Dry Environment – Grinding Wheel Cleaning
Equipment Cleaning

Due to excessive heat buildup the grinding wheels had developed a black scorched film on the surface. Blast-it-Clean was consulted to find a solution that would help extend the life of the grinding wheels. Baking soda was used as the blast media. It removed the film from the surface of the wheel and returned it to its original state.

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National Starch – Dry Environment – Dry Ice Cleaning
Equipment Cleaning

The exhaust fans directly ventilating the grinding and drying production phase required servicing and balancing. A coating of corn dust residue ¼” –  ½” thick had built up on the fan blades and required removal prior to inspection and balancing process. Dry Ice cleaning was selected as the method of cleaning. The work was performed during a tightly scheduled plant shut down. The cleaning equipment was hoisted to the roof top of the plant and secured. The cleaning was completed and the process was repeated until all of the fans scheduled for cleaning had been completed. The use of the dry ice cleaning process allowed National Starch to triple the quantity of fans that normally be cleaned and inspected during a routine maintenance cycle.

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Kansas City Waste Water – Dry Environment – Dry Ice Cleaning
Power Plant Cleaning

The switchgear at the Blue River Waste Water Treatment Plant required cleaning. Constant exposure to hydrogen sulfide caused the metal in the electrical gear to become corroded. Failure to perform preventative cleaning maintenance allowed buildup that could lead to electrical shorts, arcing and potential fires. Blast-it-Clean was hired to perform a major cleaning of this equipment. The Dry Ice Cleaning method was deployed to clean all of the copper conductors and metal cabinet interiors. Once cleaned a protective coating and sealant was applied to extend the life of the equipment and lengthen the required cleaning intervals.