Dry Ice Manufacturing Process

To make dry ice, gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2) is first pressurized and refrigerated to form liquid CO2, which is allowed to expand in an atmospheric chamber. When CO2 converts from liquid to gas, there is an extreme drop in temperature. This causes some of the gas to freeze, yielding both snow-like CO2 and vapor CO2. The “snow” is then hydraulically pressed into dry ice blocks and pellets.

The CO2 vapor produced during the production of dry ice is captured and recycled using a recovery system to maximize the yield of dry ice from each pound of liquid CO2. This is the most cost-effective way to produce dry ice, a cost savings Continental Carbonics Products passes on to our customers.