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What is Dry Ice?

Forms of Dry IceDry ice is pure, solid carbon dioxide (CO2). As a gas, CO2 exists naturally in our environment.� It's called "dry ice" because it does not melt.� Dry ice goes directly from a solid to a gas in a process called sublimation.

Dry ice keeps items colder for much longer than traditional �wet ice� because dry ice is extremely cold, -109 degrees F (-78.5� C).� Dry ice sublimates into carbon dioxide gas instead of melting, leaving no liquid mess to clean up which is why dry ice blasting is a popular and environmentally friendly way to clean.

How to Make Dry Ice - Manufacturing Dry Ice


Making Dry Ice is Really Recycling

Dry ice is made from pure carbon dioxide that is a (recycled) byproduct of other industrial processes such as the manufacture of ethanol. The gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2) is first pressurized and refrigerated to form liquid CO2, which then is allowed to expand in an atmospheric chamber.
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View How to Make Dry Ice video at right
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When the CO2 changes from a liquid to a gas, there is an extreme drop in temperature. This causes some of the gas to freeze, yielding both solid (snow-like) CO2 and the gas form (vapor) of CO2. The "snow" is then hydraulically pressed into dry ice blocks and pellets.

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Can you make dry ice at home?
The quick answer is "no."� There is no practical or inexpensive method to make enough dry ice at home to ��
Can you make dry ice at home? use it for freezing.� People have tried making dry ice "samples" involving a small CO2 tank and heavy gloves,
but not only is this potentially dangerous, it results at best in very small quantities of "snow" which will disappear very quickly. Such methods are NOT RECOMMENDED for safety reasons.
Making dry ice requires a source of CO2 [carbon dioxide] which comes from industrial processes such as ethanol plants. � Carbon dioxide is a gas.� It can be put under pressure and converted to liquid carbon dioxide [LCO2] which must be kept under pressure in a tank to remain liquid. As liquid CO2 is exposed to normal air temperatures, some of it immediately turns back to a colorless gas [CO2], and some of it freezes into "snow" which can be pressed into dry ice pellets or blocks using hydraulic pressure and a dry ice pelletizer or dry ice block press.
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Recycling CO2 in the Dry Ice Process
The first recycling recovers the CO2 from its source industrial process. The second recycling in the manufacture of dry ice occurs when the CO2 vapor produced during the production of dry ice "snow" is captured and recycled using a recovery system. This recycling maximizes the yield of dry ice from each pound of liquid CO2 input. This is the most cost-effective way to produce dry ice, a cost savings we pass on to our dry ice customers.

You can see these recycling processes during dry ice manufacture by watching the video at the right. It shows how we make dry ice at Continental Carbonic Products, Inc. Continental Carbonic Products is proud of our carefully-engineered "green" processes to conserve energy and CO2 resources by recycling the original CO2 feedstock into dry ice, and recycling CO2 vapor in our own dry ice manufacturing process.

Forms of Dry Ice

Continental Carbonic produces dry ice in the following forms:

High Density Dry Ice Pellets

High Density Dry Ice Pellets

  • 1/8" diameter dry ice pellets
  • For use in dry ice blast cleaning systems.

Pellets of dry ice wrapped in poly
Dry ice pellets are available wrapped
in poly or brown kraft paper.

Dry Ice Rice Pellets
Dry Ice Rice Pellets
  • 1/4" diameter dry ice pellets
  • Used primarily in frozen food applications
Dry Ice Standard Pellets Dry Ice Standard Pellets
  • 1/2" diameter dry ice pellets
  • Used primarily in frozen food applications
  • Used in meat processing plants
  • Used for transportation of blood plasma and lab specimens
Slabs of Dry Ice
Cut Blocks of Dry Ice
  • Dry ice available in custom sizes processed and packaged to customer specifications.
  • Dry ice may be wrapped in kraft paper or in poly.
Block of dry ice in poly wrap
Cut blocks of dry ice are
available wrapped in poly
or brown kraft paper.
Block of Dry Ice
Block of Dry Ice
  • Standard dry ice block measures 10" x 10" x 12"
  • Approximately 60 lbs. each
  • Used for frozen food applications, especially in shipping ice cream.
  • Used in grocery warehouses

Dry ice can be further processed as necessary to meet your needs. Processing dry ice includes cutting blocks into custom sizes and packaging both cut blocks and dry ice pellets in various ways. See our Dry Ice Sales page for more information.

We use insulated containers for dry ice transport and storage. The containers are available in a variety of sizes and styles to help minimize sublimation losses. To assure timely shipping of dry ice, Continental Carbonic has a fleet of trucks for customer deliveries.

Benefits of Diamond Certified Dry Ice by Continental Carbonic

Dry Ice Shaker Device
Dry ice pellet shipping container being filled while resting on newly-patented "shaker" device resulting in reduced product shrink and fewer shipping containers per order.

True and Honest Weights

You get more for your money with Continental Carbonic, because we weigh your dry ice at the latest possible opportunity before delivery. Our competitors may charge you a standard weight or what your dry ice weighed when produced, regardless of how long it may have been stored at the factory. Our �True and Honest Weight� and state-of-the-art containers save our customers as much as 20% or more.

Newly-Patented Process Gives Better Value

Continental Carbonic uses a newly-patented process in loading dry ice pellet shipping containers, to put more dry ice and less air volume into the shipping container. Reducing the amount of air in the shipping container reduces the sublimation rate of the dry ice pellets. This also means fewer shipping containers for larger orders, saving customers valuable floor space. This newly-patented innovation is the latest Continental Carbonic Products achievement in increased productivity and better efficiency, which means better dry ice value for you.

Superior Shipping Containers

dry ice shipping containersContinental Carbonic introduced stainless-steel-lined containers for dry ice usage in 1997, at more than twice the cost of conventional all-poly boxes traditionally used for dry ice shipping. These food-grade dry ice containers reduce sublimation losses by as much as 10% over all-poly containers. All food-grade containers are pressure washed and sanitized prior to filling.

For more information on dry ice shipping or shipping containers, please visit our dry ice shipping page.

Reliable Sources

Six dry ice production facilities and 32 dry ice locations throughout our service area allow us to meet your dry ice and liquid CO2 requirements - on time, every time.

Videotaped Quality Control

Consistent quality is a hallmark of our company. From regular testing of liquid CO2 purity to digital video recording of dry ice production, we go the extra mile to make sure you receive the highest quality dry ice and liquid CO2 possible.

Competitive, stable pricing

We price our dry ice competitively up front without unexpected add-on charges (e.g. Hazmat fees) and offer flexibility in length and terms of pricing arrangements.

Dry Ice Safety

Dry Ice Uses

Dry ice is a versatile product that has a number of commercial and consumer uses: