Cooling of extruded and compression molded materials

A method for cooling a material, said method comprising:

• providing an extruder;
• providing at least one die that is adapted to receive said material from said extruder;
• extruding said material through said at least one die;
• pumping a liquid cryogenic fluid into a bath approximately when said extruding of said material is initiated;
• and
• directly contacting said material with said bath of liquid cryogenic fluid after said material exits said at least one die.

A system for cooling a material, said system comprising:

• an extruder;
• at least one die adapted to receive said material from said extruder;
• a tank for storing a liquid cryogenic fluid;
• a bath adapted to receive said material after said at least one die, said bath further adapted to receive said liquid cryogenic fluid from said tank such that said liquid cryogenic fluid is adapted to directly contact said material in said bath;
• and
• a pump in fluid communication with said tank and said bath, said pump adapted to transfer said liquid cryogenic fluid into said bath from said tank, said pump further adapted to transfer said liquid cryogenic fluid into said tank from said bath approximately when extrusion of said material is complete.

A method for cooling a material, said method comprising:

• providing an extruder;
• providing at least one die that is adapted to receive said material from said extruder;
• extruding said material through said at least one die;
• directly contacting said material with a bath of liquid cryogenic fluid after said material exits said at least one die;
• providing a tank adapted to store said liquid cryogenic fluid;
• and
• pumping said liquid cryogenic fluid from said bath into said tank approximately when said extruding of said material is complete.