Mainly for use with metal molds for components in the automotive industry, dry ice blast facilities remove pollutants and incrustations by blowing dry ice and using expansion of the volume through gasification. New applications are appearing for these facilities.

Since Last year, Showa Denko Gas Products has been delivering dry ice blast facilities for use in the production lines of Terumo, the largest manufacturer of syringes, for deburring in plastic syringes. Using a facility which shaves block dry ice internally, about 5kg of dry ice are used per hour. In addition to this application, demand is expanding for use in cleaning of kitchens in restaurants.

According to a The Gas Review estimate, the number of dry ice blast facilities delivered annually in Japan is heading to around the level of 80 units. Showa Denko Gas Products markets products produced by Cold Jet. In addition, Iwatani, Nippon Ekitan and Air Water Carbonic handles products produced by a variety of manufacturers. These companies, in addition to marketing products produced overseas, are also positioned to sell the dry ice which they themselves produce. Besides companies in the gas industry, other companies specializing in the marketing and maintenance of these facilities such as Greentech Japan and Karcher Japan, which has cleaning equipment as its main line, are engaged in marketing these facilities in Japan.