Ford Using Ice to Clean Assemblies

Ford has installed a system that uses ice to clean and deburr engine and transmission components.
The system, from Universal Ice Blast Inc. has been installed at the Ford Sharonville plant in Ohio. The new Gear Cleaning station will undergo tests to replace the existing water-blast system.
“This is a significant shift into a new technology by a major industrial corporation,” says company chairman and CEO Rory Clarke. “This endeavor is a first for the automotive industry. Never have any of the three big automakers introduced crystalline ice blast equipment for insertion into their production lines.”
The ice blast technology provides Ford with a new way to clean, de-chip and deburr transmission and engine components. “Our blasting process will provide a cleaner, safer product than the more traditional forms of water blasting,” says Clarke. “We feel that the unique properties of ice blasting, with its scrub and flush action, make ice blast superior to water-blasting,” states
“Water blast requires a chemical or soap additive in order to clean oil and other lubricants, ice blast needs no such additives,” says company president and COO, Sam Visaisouk PhD.
The new Gear Cleaning System will be added to the company’s family of cleaning, de-chipping and deburring products directed towards transmissions and engines.