How to clean engine compartment effectively with dry ice

Cleaning the engine compartment is an important process to keep the engine running smoothly. In particular, cleaning car engines with a dry ice blaster is considered the most optimal cleaning method today with many advantages. Find out with Specco2 how to effectively clean engine compartment effectively with dry ice through the article below.

Where does engine compartment locate ?

The engine automotive is the front part of the car, under the bonnet and contains the front engine. Normally, cars are designed based on one of three main engine types: front-engine, middle-engine and rear-engine.

According to the survey, up to 98% of cars are produced with front engines. The reason is that most cars use front-wheel drive (FWD), so placing the engine in front of the wheel is very reasonable.

This makes the car a lot more stable while also helping to maintain a relatively balanced weight distribution when accelerating.

This is a very important part, which needs regular maintenance and care so that our car can operate smoothly and help maintain the life of the equipment.

Why is it necessary to clean the car engine compartment ?

Cleaning the engine compartment of a car helps to clean stains, rust, slow down the oxidation process of equipment in the engine compartment (engine bay) such as wires, pipes, plastic, rubber parts, belts, … and besides, it also has great benefits that come along when you know how to take care of your car regularly, such as:

Maintain your car’s value

A car is worth and has value (when you re-sale) when it’s used but still has a clean, shiny, spotless appearance. In fact, a cleaner and newer engine compartment tend to encourage people to purchase used cars at a higher price than the average used car.

In addition, in terms of aesthetics, who doesn’t like a car with a clean, shiny, oil, dust-free engine, right? Keep the value of your car with regular maintenance and cleaning.

Extend the engine compartment component’s life

When the car engine is left for a long time, after many journeys, it will inevitably be stuck with oil and dirt, which leads to engine rusting; substances that oxidize the engine surface or make old plastic parts in the engine compartment.

When the dirt and dust stick for too long, it will make the engine heat dissipation process difficult, reducing the vehicle’s engine durability. And so, the engine running then will be less efficient.

That will shorten the life of the car. Instead of going for 3 years, it will only be 1-2 years and the engine will quickly fail and have to be repaired or replaced.

It will be troublesome and costly at the same time.

During times like this, car maintenance is a top choice.

Not only does it help the car operate smoother, but it also helps prolong the life of the interior components of the car compartment.

It is advisable that the engine should be cleaned every 3 months.

Improve the safety of your car

The safety factor is very important, especially when you utilize the car as your primary means of transportation.

Oil and dirt on the vehicle’s engine is the cause that can lead to a fire and cause a car to easily go on fire. It is best that we clean the engine in order to drive safely and happily (partly because a clean, spotless car is more enjoyable to drive).

Consider using the service to give the engine compartment of the car a “deep cleaning” step, removing all the dirt and all other things.

Some consequences if the car engine compartment isn’t cleaned

As mentioned above, the engine is the main source of operating a vehicle. Although this is the part that is always very carefully covered by the bonnet plus the dust-proof gasket, after a period of time not being cleaned, dirt and grease cling to it a lot.

Over time, parts in the car engine area will have a short life span, affecting the engine’s ability to dissipate heat, leading to a series of other serious consequences.

If the engine is clogged and dusty, you can be sure that your car will easily turn off, shut down, or smell,… Here are some (sure) consequences that will take place. If you do not clean the engine compartment of your car periodically:

Reducing the durability of car engines due to dirty car engine compartments

When the car is used a lot, through the air filter, dirt will accumulate and stick to the filter membrane, filling the air vent of the filter.

If the engine is not cleaned carefully, it will obstruct the intake of air, causing a deviation in the air-to-air ratio (fuel and air), reduce power, overheat the engine and cause soot in the combustion chamber.

That is the reason for your car stalling, loud noises coming from the engine that disturb the people around.

These are all factors that make the car engine less durable, quickly damaged, costly for the maintenance service and sometimes require replacement for the run-down components.

Unpleasant odors arise from the engine compartment

When we use the car for too long and do not clean the car engine, an unpleasant odor will begin to appear in the engine compartment.

This odor can come from closed oil stains or waste from rats or other insects.

The sooner the engine is cleaned, the easier it is to remove odors, wastes and stains but if left for a long time, it will take a lot of time and money for maintenance.

Inefficient car filters increase fuel consumption

Car filter, as the name suggests, does the job of filtering and includes 4 main filters, operating in parallel and supporting each other such as air conditioning filter, oil filter, engine air filter, and fuel filter.

These filters have a role to help the vehicle increase engine power, save fuel and prolong the car’s life.

When a lot of dirt is attached, the bearings and pulleys in the filter will quickly wear out and it is difficult to avoid engine leaking.

This will cause the engine to overheat and consume more fuel (meaning it won’t be long before it costs money to make it run again).

The grease and dirt cover the problems in the engine compartment

Over a long period of time, the accumulated grease and dirt will close on the engine surface and cover up problems occurring in the engine compartment such as broken wires, leaking gaskets, etc.

If not detected early, It can cause unpredictable consequences, so special attention should be paid to this point to ensure safety.

How much does it usually cost to clean engine compartment of a car?

The service price for a car engine compartment cleaning usually ranges from 800,000 VND or more. There are many factors that affect the price such as:

• Vehicle type: Is your vehicle a 4-seater/ 8-seater or a larger vehicle? Which company does it come from? Depending on the vehicle type and manufacturer, the service requirements will vary and so is the price.
• Working time: Depending on the size of the vehicle, the time for car care and maintenance may vary. For normal cars, it only takes 2 hours to clean but for larger cars or expensive cars, it will take more time and require more care for details.
• Condition of the engine compartment: If the engine compartment is left unwashed for a long time, rusted, moldy, long-standing dirt will be difficult to wash off and all these require stronger cleaning measures. As a result, you will have to spend more on maintenance services compared to regular cars.
• Locality: In big cities, the price of washing the car engine compartment will be much higher than in the provinces.
  
  

Solution for cleaning car engine compartment with dry ice

How to clean the car engine compartment with dry ice

Dry ice is the solid form of CO2 and is used for a variety of purposes; in this case, it mainly serves the purpose of washing and cleaning machines and engines.

Dry ice comes in many shapes and sizes and is created by liquefying carbon dioxide and pumping it into a storage tank. Here, CO2 is solidified at -109 degrees F and turned into a solid form.

Cleaning the car engine compartment with dry ice is a service that is still quite new in the Vietnamese market, but the effect it brings is extremely effective. This process can clean all equipment, giving it a new look, and is extremely eco-friendly with just two simple steps:

• Put 2-3 bowls of ice into the dry ice machine and then blast it on the parts in the engine that need cleaning, even the hard-to-reach places.
• Compressed air from dry ice is sprayed out and collides with the surface of equipment, dislodging stubborn plaque and dirt on the engine surface.
  
  

When the dry ice is blasted out, it will change from solid to a gas, with a blowing pressure of 20-300 PSI at a very low temperature (about -70 degrees Celsius), so it can freeze dirt and grease, easily knocking them out and creating small explosions. You can rest assured that throughout the process, the surfaces will not be damaged and will also leave no residue.

Benefits of cleaning the engine with dry ice

Removes all secondary waste without leaving any traces after cleaning.

Usually when cleaning with water, chemicals, sand… these cleaning processes will leave secondary waste and dirt to be cleaned on the floor, around the machine. Sometimes the secondary waste treatment process after cleaning is more complicated than the cleaning process.

With the dry ice cleaning process, Dry ice sublimates immediately upon impact and lifts contaminants from substrates to be cleaned. No secondary waste is created between dirt, grease… and dry ice.  Processing process after cleaning will become much easier. Maintenance staff, cleaning staff will only need to clean up dirt from the machine.

Optimum cleaning ability, environmentally friendly and high-efficiency 

In addition to being clean and safe, it is also important to remember that dry ice is obtained as a byproduct of other industrial processes – i.e. it is made from reclaimed CO₂. It does not produce CO₂ or add CO₂ to the atmosphere and therefore does not contribute to the greenhouse effect. Dry ice cleaning is truly and completely environmentally responsible and high efficiency.

Dry ice is also an approved medium by the EPA, USDA and FDA. It is non-toxic, non-hazardous and is approved for use around food. Dry ice is colorless, tasteless and odorless.

See the comparison chart of dry ice cleaning compared to other traditional methods:

Damage and erode-free metal equipment when using the machine

Dry ice is a very soft media and can clean most surfaces without damaging them. It is around 1.5 – 2 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness. Dry ice can clean sensitive surfaces, such as electronic equipment, printed circuit boards, and plastic molds, without etching, profiling or changing surface dimensions. This prolongs the life of the equipment and decreases the risk of damage to machinery during the cleaning process.

Operators of dry ice blasting machines can further control the aggression of dry ice by changing the particle size and the velocity of the dry ice exiting the system. Smaller particles, combined with lower acceleration equates to a gentler clean.

Short cleaning time, you will be very content as it’s no longer time-consuming like before.

Dry ice cleaning does not use aqueous or chemical solutions and does not produce any secondary waste, which allows tooling and equipment to be cleaned in-place without time-consuming disassembly and reassembly. Dry ice blasting is used to remove contaminants, such as production residues, release agents, paints, oils and biofilms from equipment while it is still online.

By cleaning equipment in-place, facilities are able to reduce shutdowns and increase productivity.

No need to clean again after using the dry ice machine

Normally, when using traditional cleaning methods such as scrubbing, scraping, etc., the manufacturer must add an extra cleaning step after handling to ensure the device is completely clean.

However, with the dry ice blasting method, you only need to clean the surface with dry ice and no further steps are required after cleaning.

Some of Specco2’s dry ice blasters

SPECCo2 Aero Series 40FP

The Aero Series 40FP dry ice blaster is an industrial cleaning machine that uses a compact motor to help reduce weight and reduce power consumption; bringing the best cleanliness to your environment.

The machine utilizes SureFlow performance allowing optimum operator performance with no clogging or wasted cleaning, and Feeder technology reduces wear on pads and rotors.

Features of Aero 40FP:

• Aerodynamic loading reduces wear on pads and rotors, increasing machine life
• Compact motor reduces weight and reduces power consumption
• Rotor provides stable tablet flow without pulsations and precise feed rate control
• Full range of burst pressure
• On-board pressure regulator
  
  

SPECCo2 Aero Series 80FP

The Aero Series 80FP is an upgrade of the Aero 40FP with twice the hopper size, the flow rate, and the stats are all markedly improved with absolute optimization features.

Advantages of Aero 80FP:

• The patented SureFlow Performance System allows the operator to run a full hopper through 100 feet of pipe without poking, clogging, or wasted cleaning.
• Patented Feeder technology aerodynamic loading to reduce gasket and rotor wear.
• Advanced radiating power system Allows aerodynamic loading to reduce wear and prolong machine life while providing pulseless bursting and precise feed rate control.
• Pressure range Gentle cleaning at 20 psi (1.4 bar) to explosive at 300 psi (20 bar).
  
  

Conclusion

Cleaning the engine compartment of a car can take a lot of time because of the accumulated oil and dirt stains, but with Specco2’s dry ice blaster, it will become extremely easy and any stains will be removed. washed, leaving you with a car that looks like new.

Besides, customers who want to learn about other types of Specco2 dry ice blasters such as Aero2 Series or Ice Tech Series can contact here to receive the earliest preferential information and quotation.