The article presents a formulated mathematical model that enables the determination of the required compressive force in the extrusion process of dry ice employing multichannel dies. This is the main parameter in the piston-based dry ice extrusion process. The indicated model was developed for the purpose of further improvement of the energy efficiency of this extrusion process. It allows for the determination of the value of compressive force by accounting for 12 variables related to the geometrical parameters of the die and the physical characteristics of dry ice. Furthermore, the paper also provides descriptions of the empirical study methodologies together with the results. These were carried out in order to determine the difference between the results of mathematical modeling and actual measurement results. The final part of the article presents the results of the analysis of the mathematical model's sensitivity to the change of the physical characteristics of dry ice. The formulated tool may be employed to adapt the geometric parameters of the die in order to obtain the desired compressive force value and dry ice granulation with reduced energy consumption.
Keywords: applied mathematical model; dry ice; empirical model verification; extrusion process; multichannel die; tool design.