Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide, which is easy to volatilize at normal temperatures, so storage and transportation of dry ice are very important. There is a strong connection between sample transport and dry ice. Sample transportation is an important part to ensure sample quality. When using dry ice transportation, different shapes of dry ice are very particular about the use in different situations.
What are the shapes of dry ice in the market?
- Dry ice rice
Small dry ice granules made by the commercial dry ice machines have the same size as rice grains, also called dry ice rice. Generally, the use of dry ice rice in cleaning and decontamination is effective. Our samples are shipped for a long time, the dry ice rice grains are easy to agglomerate, and the dry ice rice grains are relatively small, which is more volatile and leads to insufficient dry ice.
- Block dry ice
Cube-shaped dry ice made by the special dry ice block machine is mainly used in the field of refrigerated transportation, and have a large number of applications in food, sanitation, industry, and catering. Because our samples are generally stored in centrifuge tubes or cryopreservation tubes, large dry ice friction, coupled with the inevitable violent transportation phenomenon, it is easy to crush the centrifuge tube/freezer tube, causing cross-contamination or even loss of samples.
- Columnar dry ice pellets
Large pellets of dry ice made by the dry ice pelletizer machine are about the size of a finger and have a diameter of about 13-16 mm. Dry ice granules are mainly used as cooling agents for trains, trucks, ships, cargo cars, etc. to save space and are suitable for long-distance transportation, so they are usually used for refrigeration, storage, frozen food, and food transportation. The dry ice pellets are of a suitable size and are not volatile, making them ideal for sample transportation.