CFD-simulation in the development of dry ice blasting nozzles

In the last years dry ice blasting has been established as a cleaning and decoating process for different applications. Nevertheless there is a high potential for the further development of the process, especially in terms of nozzle optimization. This paper describes a numeric simulation of the flow in and out of a nozzle during dry ice blasting. In the early stages of the analysis the velocity was measured to verify the simulation results as well as the geometry to generate the computer model. The results of the simulation correlate well with the measurement readings. However, more investigations and model-specific options will be needed to be able to use simulation as an adequate tool for the development of blasting nozzles