Dry ice is made by liquefying carbon dioxide and injecting it into a holding tank, where it’s frozen at a temperature of -109° F and compressed into solid ice. Depending on whether it’s created in a pelletizer or a block press, dry ice can then be made into pellets or large blocks.

Can you make dry ice at home?

It’s extremely cold and sublimates into carbon dioxide gas, so it’s useful for a wide variety of projects. While it’s almost certainly less expensive to get dry ice from a store, it’s possible to make it yourself using a CO2 fire extinguisher or pressurized carbon dioxide in a tank or cartridge.

How is dry ice made and stored?

When dry ice is made in bulk it is immediately placed in an insulated cooler in order to protect it from the outside heat and keep to frozen and stop it from sublimating as quickly. The better the cooler and the more dry ice stored the longer the dry ice will last overall.