Cryogenic Surface
Treatment Technology
Aphelions technology applies controlled cryogenic energy to remove industrial contamination without introducing moisture, abrasion, or chemical residues.
Traditional cleaning methods often solve surface contamination while creating new reliability risks. Water-based systems introduce conductivity and corrosion.
Abrasive methods damage insulation and precision surfaces. Solvent cleaning introduces environmental and safety complications.
Cryogenic surface treatment changes the approach entirely.
Instead of dissolving contamination or grinding it away, Aphelions systems use controlled particle dynamics, thermal gradients, and momentum transfer to break the bond between contaminant and substrate while preserving the integrity of the underlying material.
One or more Patents Pending
The Physics Behind Aphelions Surface Treatment
Dry Ice surface treatment works by combining several physical mechanisms
that act simultaneously at the contaminant interface.
First, high-velocity particle impact transfers kinetic energy to the contaminant layer.
This energy disrupts the bond between the contaminant and the substrate.
Second, extremely low temperatures create rapid thermal gradients
between the contaminant and the underlying material.
Because contaminants and substrates expand and contract at different rates,
the bond between them weakens under cryogenic conditions.
Third, rapid phase change and gas expansion help lift and separate fractured
contaminant particles from the surface.
The combined effect is controlled contaminant removal that preserves the
integrity of electrical insulation, precision surfaces, and industrial equipment.
Core Physical Mechanisms
• Kinetic Energy Transfer — High-velocity particles deliver energy that fractures contaminant bonds at the surface interface.
• Differential Thermal Contraction — Cryogenic temperatures create stress between materials that expand and contract at different rates.
• Gas Expansion and Particle Lift-Off — Rapid sublimation and gas flow help remove fractured contamination from the surface.
One or more Patents Pending
Contamination, Moisture,
and the WISE Effect
In many industrial environments, contamination does not exist alone.
Surfaces often carry thin layers of moisture that condense from humid air or process conditions.
When cryogenic particles strike these surfaces, that moisture can freeze instantly and form a thin ice layer between the contaminant and the cleaning particle.
This phenomenon can reduce cleaning efficiency, because the particle impacts the ice layer first rather than the contaminant itself.
The ice absorbs energy and acts as a temporary mechanical shield.
Jay Armstrong refers to this behavior as the Water Ice Shielding Effect (WISE)™, a mechanism first identified and named through cryogenic surface treatment research.
Understanding this interaction helps explain why surface conditions, humidity, and thermal behavior can strongly influence cleaning performance in cryogenic and dry-ice surface treatment systems.
Surface Interaction Model
Conceptual model of cryogenic particle interaction with contaminated industrial surfaces.
Energy transfer, thermal gradients, and phase change mechanisms combine to disrupt contaminant bonds while preserving the underlying substrate.
One or more Patents Pending