Manufacturer & Service Provider — Cardox CO2 System & Whipping System

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The Cardox CO2 System — Blockages Cleared in Milliseconds

Non-explosive and no vibration — and it works at full operating temperature, so your kiln never has to cool down.

Cardox India is the manufacturer and service provider of the Cardox blockage clearing system in India. A high-strength reusable steel tube is filled with liquid carbon dioxide, a chemical heater and a rupture disc. A small electrical charge converts the liquid CO2 to gas; pressure builds until the rupture disc bursts and the gas — now 600 times its original volume — discharges through a shaped nozzle to create a powerful heaving force.

The whole event takes milliseconds. A single tube can dislodge over 3 tonnes of blockage.

Pressure is regulated, not fixed. The system runs anywhere from 1,200 bar (18,000 psi) to 3,000 bar (40,000 psi) — matched to the material and to what the vessel and its refractory can take. This is what separates it from a shotgun or an air cannon: the force is chosen, aimed and repeatable.

The tube discharging inside a vessel — the whole event, slowed down.

What is inside the tube

The tube is the whole system. There is no charge, no detonator and no explosive — only liquid carbon dioxide, a chemical heater and a disc engineered to burst at a chosen pressure.

Horizontal cutaway of a Cardox tube: electrical connector and chemical heater at the left, the steel tube body filled with liquid carbon dioxide, the shear disc and washer, and the multi-holed discharge head at the right where the gas is released
Section through a Cardox tube. Everything except the shear disc and the CO2 is reused — a tube has a working life of more than fifteen years and is recharged in under a minute.

Access: sockets or inspection hatches

Cardox tube inserted through a socket in the silo wall and fired remotely by an operator standing clear of the vessel

Cardox is applied either through small sockets mounted permanently onto the vessel wall, or through existing inspection hatches. Either way, nobody enters the vessel.

With sockets fitted, the sequence is simple: the sealing plug is removed, a hole is made in the product, the tube is inserted through the socket to a predetermined depth and discharge direction, and it is activated. Afterwards the tube is removed and the sealing plug replaced — the vessel returns to normal operation until the next time it is needed.

Because depth and direction are pre-set by the coupling, the discharge is aimed into the blockage and away from the vessel wall. That control is what minimises any risk to refractory.

The real advantage of permanent sockets: once a vessel is fitted, blockages can be cleared during production. No outage to schedule, no cooling period, no lost campaign days.

Two Cardox sockets welded through the wall of a silo discharge chute, seen from below, with the weld beads and heat discolouration visible around each socket body
A pair of sockets welded through the wall of a discharge chute. The plug is removed, the tube goes in through the bore to a pre-set depth, and the plug goes back afterwards.
Looking up at the underside of a silo discharge cone showing the twin extraction chutes with Cardox sockets fitted on each side
The same installation in context, looking up at the discharge cone. Both chutes are fitted, so either side can be cleared without an outage.

Why it beats the alternatives

MethodWhat it actually costs you
Sending workers insideUp to 8 days and as many as 30 workers, plus shutting the kiln down and waiting for it to cool. And it is the most dangerous job in the plant.
Air blastersPlants report efficiency losses of up to 75%, on top of high installation, equipment and maintenance costs, and continuous running costs.
Water injection / shotgun methodsOperators exposed to flying debris or forced dangerously close to the blast area.
Cardox SystemHours, not days. One or two workers. No efficiency loss — every tube delivers maximum pressure. Typically pays for itself in a single application.

The safety case

Running costs

Manufacturing & supply

Buy the system, hire it, or hire us

Cardox India is the manufacturer and service provider for the Cardox System in India. However you want to work, the equipment comes from us directly.

Purchase a complete system

Tubes, sockets, plugs, firing equipment and the training to run it — installed on your vessels.

Socket installation

We fit permanent sockets to your vessel walls so future blockages clear during production.

Hire the system

For a campaign or a shutdown, at reasonable rates and with no capital outlay.

Hire our service team

We bring the crew, the equipment and the experience.

Tubes & consumables

Reusable tubes with a 15+ year working life, recharged in under a minute, supplied direct.

Worldwide supply

We ship internationally with commissioning, operator training and spares.

Request a Quotation Export & Distributor Enquiries

Blocked cyclone, kiln ring or silo?

Tell us the vessel, the material and whether the plant is running. We will tell you whether Cardox clears it, how long it takes and what it costs.

Plant already down? Mark your message EMERGENCY — we mobilise.

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