Innovative Cold Chain Solutions: Leveraging Dry Ice for Food Preservation
Dry ice, or solidified carbon dioxide, is an extremely cold and versatile substance with applications in many industries. In fact, any supply chain that deals with perishable or temperature-sensitive goods — from fresh food to vaccines — is entirely reliant on dry ice for the transportation of goods.
This opaque substance, sold in either pellet or block form, has several benefits over wet ice when it comes to food preservation. It’s often found in domestic, commercial or industrial settings. Let’s take a closer look at what makes it so special.
Why Dry Ice is Used in Food Preservation
Anyone who works in cold chain solutions will understand how challenging it is to preserve, store, and ship perishable food items. Not only can the product get spoiled, leading to losses for the seller, it can also lose its freshness and nutritional value.
Dry ice has emerged as a game-changer in this regard, solving all these issues with its unique properties. Here are some benefits it offers in food preservation.
- Prevents Bacteria: Dry ice has a temperature of -109 degrees Fahrenheit, making it one of the coldest available substances on the market. This enables it to stop the growth of bacteria and extend the shelf life of food.
- No Water Residue: Since, CO2 can’t exist in a liquid state, dry ice sublimes to gas instead of melting like regular ice. This ensures that it doesn’t leave behind any water residue that could contaminate precious food products.
- Contamination-proof: Dry ice is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, ensuring that the food always stays free of contaminants and retains its freshness.
- Improved Packaging: When wet ice melts, it leaves behind a lot of moisture that can damage the packaging of a food product. Dry ice, however, leaves behind no moisture, allowing the packaging to stay intact.
- Environment-friendly: Dry ice is one of the most eco-conscious ways to preserve and transport food items. It can be recycled and reused and leaves behind no waste.
- Availability: It is an extremely accessible and cost-effective solution.
- Longevity: Dry ice can cool products for about 24 hours before it begins to sublime. At the same time, it is three times more effective at keeping things cool than wet ice, which also melts much faster.
How to Package Food with Dry Ice
Now that we’ve understood the benefits, let’s take a closer look at how companies operating within a cold chain properly manage and package food with dry ice.
Here are some tips and best practices:
- Before shipping, dry ice and food must be stored in a well-ventilated box. This box should never be completely sealed to allow for the release of pressure.
- Food items should always go on top of the dry ice, and not the other way around. This can help prevent severe burns when unpacking a box.
- Always use gloves or tongs when handling the substance.
- Never eat or taste dry ice, and ensure the food doesn’t come in direct contact with it either.
Forge Forward with nexAir
For over 80 years, nexAir has been the leading supplier of industrial gas and welding supplies across the Southeast. Now, with nexAir Carbonic, we’ve added dry ice into the mix. Our high-quality dry ice enables food and beverage companies to Forge Forward, knowing that their product is always safe. Meanwhile, our experts’ KnowHow ensures your staff always have the right training to handle the volatile substance.
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Manufacturing downtime costs American companies billions annually. When production lines halt due to gas supply issues, every minute translates to lost revenue, missed deadlines, and frustrated customers. At nexAir, we've spent decades developing solutions that keep manufacturing operations running smoothly.
The Hidden Costs of Gas-Related Downtime
When manufacturers calculate downtime costs, they typically focus on labor and lost production. However, gas supply disruptions create cascading effects that multiply these losses:
- Production rescheduling that disrupts carefully optimized sequences
- Rush shipping fees to meet customer deadlines despite delays
- Quality inconsistencies when processes restart after interruptions
- Overtime costs to catch up after unplanned stoppages
- Reputation damage when delivery commitments are missed
For a typical mid-sized manufacturer, each hour of downtime represents $5,000-$10,000 in direct and indirect costs. Our analysis shows that gas-related issues cause 7-12% of total manufacturing downtime - a substantial opportunity for improvement.
From Reactive to Proactive: The Supply Continuum
Most facilities follow a predictable pattern in their gas management evolution:
Stage 1: Reactive Management At this stage, facilities order gas when they notice supplies running low or, worse, after running out. Emergencies are common, and disruptions are accepted as "part of doing business." One automotive parts supplier operating this way experienced 14 production interruptions in a single quarter.
Stage 2: Calendar-Based Management Facilities advance to scheduled deliveries based on estimated usage. While better than the reactive approach, this method still results in either excess inventory (tying up capital and space) or shortages when usage spikes occur. A plastics manufacturer following this model maintained 40% more cylinder inventory than necessary while still experiencing occasional stockouts.
Stage 3: Consumption-Based Management Our telemetry systems monitor actual gas consumption, automatically triggering orders based on usage patterns rather than calendar dates. This approach virtually eliminates both stockouts and excess inventory.
Stage 4: Integrated Supply Management The most advanced approach connects gas management directly to production planning systems. Upcoming production requirements automatically adjust supply parameters, ensuring resources are precisely aligned with needs. A medical device manufacturer using this approach reports zero gas-related downtime for 27 consecutive months while operating with minimal inventory buffers.
Our expert KnowHow™ in industrial gas applications allows us to guide customers through this evolution at a pace that makes sense for their operations.
Customizing Solutions for Maximum Uptime
Manufacturing environments vary dramatically in their gas requirements and operational constraints. We've developed flexible approaches that address these differences:
- For high-volume, consistent usage operations, our bulk systems eliminate the cylinder handling that frequently causes supply disruptions. Bulk installations include telemetry monitoring and automated ordering to prevent outages.
- For variable-demand environments, our microbulk delivery systems provide the benefits of bulk supply with lower volume commitments. These systems reduce handling requirements while maintaining the flexibility needed for changing production schedules.
- For specialized applications requiring multiple gas types, our gas management programs combine cylinder tracking, usage monitoring, and automated replenishment. This comprehensive approach ensures that specialty gases are always available when needed, regardless of how infrequently they might be used.
- For multi-site operations, our enterprise supply programs coordinate deliveries and optimize inventory across locations. By treating the organization's gas requirements holistically, we minimize both stockouts and excess inventory across the network.
This consultative approach ensures that manufacturers receive solutions aligned with their specific operational patterns rather than generic "one-size-fits-all" systems.
Beyond Traditional Supply: Integrated Services for Total Reliability
Maximum uptime requires more than just reliable gas delivery. Our integrated services address the full spectrum of gas-related reliability factors:
Equipment maintenance programs that prevent system failures before they impact production Technical gas specialists who resolve application issues that could otherwise cause production problems Safety training that prevents accidents leading to downtime events Emergency response capabilities that minimize impacts when unexpected events occur Supply chain redundancy that ensures continuity despite regional disruptions
These services complement our supply solutions to form a comprehensive reliability strategy. By addressing both everyday operations and exceptional circumstances, we help manufacturers Forge Forward with confidence that gas-related disruptions won't derail their production targets.
Measuring Success: The Results That Matter
The ultimate measure of any downtime reduction strategy is its impact on production metrics. Our manufacturing customers consistently report significant improvements after implementing our comprehensive gas management solutions:
Downtime reductions of 85-95% for gas-related issues Inventory cost decreases of 20-30% through optimized supply management Administrative time savings of 5-10 hours weekly through automated ordering and tracking Production schedule adherence improvements of 3-7% due to improved supply reliability
These performance gains translate directly to bottom-line benefits that typically deliver ROI within months rather than years. More importantly, they allow manufacturers to confidently make delivery commitments, knowing that gas supply issues won't compromise their ability to perform.
Don't let gas supply issues impact your productivity. Contact us today to explore our tailored solutions.
Looking out for your future
Get your career going on the right track with nexAir
Find out how nexAir KnowHow has impacted businesses all over the Southeast
Our expertise makes us more than a valuable partner, it makes us headlines
