Gas venting device for dry ice pelletizer and methods for retrofitting same onto existing dry ice pelletizers

摘要

A gas venting device for dry ice pelletizers and a method for retrofitting the venting device onto an existing piston and cylinder type dry ice pelletizer. The venting device consists of a venting mesh having wires with a generally trapezoidal cross section. The venting mesh is attached to a forward flange at one end and a rear flange at the opposite end. The two flanges are separated by spacer bars. The spacer bars absorb the compressive force exerted by four rods that extend the entire length of the dry ice pelletizer. Without the spacer bars, venting mesh would buckle under this compressive force. The forward flange is attached to an extrusion cylinder and the rear flange is attached to a home cylinder. The extrusion flange is attached at its other end to a die for dry ice pellet extrusion. The home cylinder is attached at its other end to the rest of the dry ice pelletizer.