Design & development of mechanism for outer diameter alternation of dry ice cleaning prototype

• Main Author: Yap, Yi Shen
• Other Authors: David Lee Butler
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/72215
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The need for better cleaning methods that can reduce the usage of water and yet produce equally, if not better, results has led to the advocacy for dry ice blasting as an alternative form of cleaning method. The process blast out dry ice pellets onto surfaces, where a mixture of kinetic and thermal energy removes any contaminants. Dry ice blasting is already used in various industries, such as the automotive industry, foundries, and food processing plants. New methods to apply dry ice blasting are being developed, and there are many different types of products available in the market that allow effective cleaning across various applications. One such product are robots used to clean pipes and air ducts. These robots are able to reach into confined spaces and blast out dry ice pellets around the inner surfaces. However, an issue facing such robots are their sizes, as the robots tend to be relatively big in diameter. There is thus a need for smaller cleaning devices to enter air ducts of smaller diameter, and be able to change its diameter to fit varying air duct sizes.