Dry Ice

Yep..I have never used "Dry Ice"...What I want to do is use the dry ice in 80 quart coolers to keep my block ice from melting..
I'm not sure of what hazards can happen..I know the ice is around 100 below zero..I think my biggest concern is what ever gas is released and building pressure in the ice chests..SO..Is this a bad idea?..If any of you have done it what precautions do you take?...Thanks

Good rubber gloves are a must for handling it..

You would have to leave the lid cracked or it will blow the lid off. We have used water and dry ice in gator aid jugs to remove small stumps. Kinda of sketchy and sensitive stuff.

Rubber or thick leather. That stuff can instantly freeze flesh so wear insulating gloves.
No build up of nitrogen (dry ice is frozen nitrogen) to worry about unless your cooler is absolutely air tight, most are not. The extreme cold can damage some coolers if the plastic liner is one that gets brittle at cold temps, most aren't. Since cold sinks you want the dry ice on top but things below and in contact can freeze. If just wanting foodstuffs cold but not frozen place above dry ice.

Been through a few power outages that required dry ice to save the contents of the freezer.

nope...it's frozen CO2

(oh, the Horror!)

White marlins right in this area the liquid co2 comes from the nitrogen plant because its a by product of the process. Praxair is the one who handles the liquid co2 here.

Getting a lungfull of it could cause sickness or death in large enough volumes. Obviously don't touch it as it can cause nearly instant frostbite.

Ooops, my bad. I was thinking freeze branding and hygienic testing bees I guess. That uses liquid nitrogen.

We used a small block of dry ice this weekend in my homemade plywood 2x2x4 cooler. Froze the beer hat was next to it. As of this evening there's still wet ice and cold beer in there.

Its not scary at all.

My main customer uses dry ice to ship all over the US and overseas. He gets thousands of pounds of dry ice delivered a month. Dry ice, in large amounts is fairly dangerous. It can build up pressure and explode a tight container. He lost one freezer that was to tight. The damage was fairly minimal, but enough that he trashed it.

Since carbon dioxide is heavier than regular air, if used in something like a chest freezer, the fumes stay in the freezer and can suffocate you, if you lean inside to move things around while breathing.

Chest freezers, that are not locked, will "burp", where the lid goes up and lets the carbon dioxide fumes creating pressure, out.

Keith

I've used dry ice to purge fumes from gasoline tanks before removing them from the ground.

Yep..Do you think that 10lbs of dry ice would keep ice froze for 10 days at 80 during the day and 60 at night?..I know this a loaded question with a lot of variables..that would be losing a pound a day..I would be leaving the lid unlocked for the off gassing of CO2..what do you think?

Still using a 80 quart cooler..

A pound a day evaporates out of a cooler..........we used it to collect mosquitoes..........so be prepared for a few followers to come your way.

And it is great for a tick trap.

Got 10 days before you need to implement your plan that you could try it out? Best way to know for sure, especially if its critical that you have 100% of your regular ice on day 10.

Yep..I'm just gonna roll with it..whatever I get is OK on this run..when I loose all the ice it will be canned goods and freeze dried meals..

I have one more little question..I don't think you put the dry ice on top of regular ice right? or do you..If I wrap the dry ice is something will that help keep the dry ice?..

Use regular ice to make warm stuff cold. Use dry ice to keep cold stuff cold. Small barrier will keep stuff from freezing solid, and from evaping too fast. I normally used a few layers of walmart bag, or a cardboard box.

I have used Dry Ice in a 100 quart cooler on a 6 day river float. I put newspaper in the bottom of the cooler,a layer of Dry Ice and a layer of newspaper on top. It keeps things colder but I don't think it made much difference time wise from frozen water jugs,it just takes less cooler space.

My customer gets the dry ice in paper bags, with sheets of paper between the thin, layered dry ice, so you can select how much you want. He ships frozen meat in a cardboard box, with styrofoam sheeting on the top, bottom and sides, with insulated side panels, inside the styrofoam, that look like they are made of padded space blankets. The frozen meat goes in a heavy duty, garbage bag, in the center and the dry ice is placed on top of the meat. The bag is folded over, but not tied. The meat will stay cold that way for up to 5 days.

Since cold air falls, it makes sense to put the dry ice on top, but it probably does not matter much in a small, insulated container.

Keith

It's not as dangerous as long as your somewhat knowledgeable. It's sold in the local grocery stores here. As mentioned, wrap the chunks in newspaper for handling. Minimize air getting to it so it does not evaporate too rapidly. I had a deer head to wide to put in my standup freezer. I took a regular 64 at igloo cooler stuck the head in it, layered the dry ice around it, then packed the pink house insulation around ice and head. Lasted at least a week until I took the head to the taxidermist and froze it solid. We use dry ice in bulk at work to help fit bearings and sleeves on shafts. As long as you don't see the fog oozing out of your cooler it will last a good while. I wouldn't crumble it and put it in plastic bottles though.

You would have to leave the lid cracked or it will blow the lid off. We have used water and dry ice in gator aid jugs to remove small stumps. Kinda of sketchy and sensitive stuff.

Its getting hard to find Dry ice now days

AND, You can't live long in a CO2 atmosphere, make sure it's well ventilated. The term Dry Ice" comes from the fact taht most liquids will go thru 3 stages: Solid, Liquid, Gas; and Dry ice doesn't have a Liquid stage.

Yep..So I took off with 80 lbs of cubed ice and 10 lbs of dry ice..I loaded the cooler on Tuesday afternoon..I get to the location on Wednesday afternoon and take a peek in the cooler.."NO DRY ICE"..however the cubed ice was frozen..SO..I went to the store that had it..I walk in with a pair of heavy leather welding gloves and asked for the dry ice..The lady says she has 10lbs and to wait..she comes back holding two bags of dry ice in her bare hand..so much for the welding gloves..OK so I load the dry ice into the cooler and expecting it to last for quite a few warm days and it just didn't make it...So what did I do wrong?..I figured it to be alright that the dry ice was already bagged..but that doesn't work..

Dry ice wint last very long if its not super cold. What I use it for is the same set up ooi had which is to make my wet ice very cold and last longer. My dry ice in my home made cooler last about 12-16 hours but it makes everything else so coldbthat 20 lbs of my wet ice will last 3 days. I could make it last longer if I kept it fuller.

The beer next to the dry ice was frozen for a good long while.

The CO2 gas from melted dry ice has an expansion ratio of about 1500. It will force itself out of the lid. Keep your cooler closed as much as possible. Place frozen items in the bottom. Avoid opening the cooler as much as possible. Place a towel over the top of your contents inside the cooler. Insulation is your friend.