CO2 Snow
Case Studies
Allied-Signal is using CO2 snow at its General Aviation Avionics plant in Olathe, Kansas to replace Freon R-12
for component cooling. Printed circuit board components are cooled to stress them for defect testing. Freon
R-12 had been used at the rate of 9,000 lb/year, all of which was vented to atmosphere. Changing to CO2 snow
cooling required the purchase of new equipment to generate the "snow" but is otherwise a direct replacement for
Freon cooling. Allied-Signal recovered its capital investment in 30 weeks (at R-12 1992 prices) due to lower cost
of carbon dioxide cylinders. Additionally, the CO2 snow cools faster than the Freon and has resulted in improved
defect detection rates. The carbon dioxide is generally a recycled by-product of other industrial processes.
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