Gas duster
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Gas duster (also inaccurately called canned air) is a product consisting of liquified difluoroethane, trifluoroethane, or tetrafluoroethane in a spray can, with a very long nozzle that enables the user to direct a precisely focused blast of gas. Gas duster does not use compressed air, but other inert gases that are much easier to compress into liquid. Hydrocarbons, like butane, were often used in the past, but their flammability forced manufacturers to use fluorocarbons.
Gas duster is usually used to clean or dust delicate or sensitive things such as electronics and computer equipment, as jets of gas are often gentler and sometimes more effective than other cleaning methods. The spray can often reach places where other cleaning implements cannot. Using gas in spray can form is more convenient than using an air compressor or air tank.
Normally, the liquid in the can immediately changes state into gas when it leaves the nozzle. Gases compressed into liquids absorb much energy upon vaporization, which is why under normal use, the can becomes quite cold to the touch. Holding the can upside-down or at a steep angle and spraying does not allow for the liquid to immediately vaporize, causing it to be released as a freezing spray. [1].
Gas duster is one of many inhalants that can be abused.
[edit] See also
- Dust-Off: a brand of canned air product
