KR100467374B1 - Method and apparatus for nitrate removal of tobacco stem material - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing nitric acid from a tobacco pickling material, comprising introducing the tobacco picking material from a first point of the housing, guiding through the solvent, and withdrawing from the housing at a second point, The entire process is carried out under overpressure, and the apparatus for carrying out the method further comprises a substantially cylindrical long housing and at least one rotatable feed screw, the housing being pressure sealably configured, And a locking device or nozzle for ejecting.

Description

Method and apparatus for nitrate removal of tobacco stem material

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing nitrate from a tobacco stem material.

In the treatment of the tobacco stem material, it is preferred that the unwanted soluble material contained in the tobacco stem material, such as nitrate, is removed from the tobacco stem material prior to further treatment with a product suitable for smoking.

It is common that water or steam is injected into the tobacco stem material at various stages and the tobacco stem material is buffer-stored between the individual injection stages. Then, it is divided into pieces and, if necessary, another substance is added and dried.

The drawback to this method is the long processing time of the tobacco stem material.

German Patent No. 34 19 655 C2 describes a method for producing a low-nitrate tobacco product by extracting a soluble component from a tobacco of a certain grade, wherein a tobacco of a certain grade is first prepared to produce a slurry, RTI ID = 0.0 > solvent. ≪ / RTI > Most of the solvent is then removed from the slurry so that the tobacco remains saturated with the solvent, some dissolved components are separated from the solvent, and at least some of the solvent forms another tobacco solvent slurry . This method is executed in the standby state.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for removing nitrate from a tobacco stem material at a fast and cheap price.

A method for removing nitrate from a tobacco stem material, which comprises putting a tobacco stem material into the inside of a housing, bringing the tobacco stem material into contact with a solvent, and then removing the tobacco stem material from the housing, This is accomplished by guiding the tobacco stem material by a feeder screw passing therethrough. The apparatus of the present invention for the removal of nitrate from tobacco stem material comprises a generally cylindrical long pressure seal housing, a feeder screw rotatably mounted within the housing, a housing for inserting and removing liquid and / or gaseous solvents as well as tobacco stem material Wherein the longitudinal axis of the housing is inclined at an angle (?) Of between about 5 and 20 degrees, especially about 10 degrees, with respect to the horizontal line so that the solvent bath is positioned at the bottom of the housing.

Convenient embodiments are understood from the features defined in the claims.

According to the method of the present invention, when the tobacco stem material is continuously introduced into the solvent tank and mixed, the pressure up to now is elevated to a level above the average atmospheric pressure, and the nitrate of the tobacco stem material is rapidly removed . The amount of nitrate thus removed reaches 80% in 1 to 6 minutes.

Another advantage of the method according to the invention is that, if the method is properly parameterized, a number of variables can be set so that the amount of nitrate taken from the tobacco stem material can be determined with relative precision.

Moreover, the process according to the present invention allows the tobacco stem material to be wetted quickly, i.e. within 1 to 6 minutes, in the process described above, so that it has the required cutting moisture content immediately according to the conditions of the selected process, There is another advantage in that a considerable amount of material can be obtained by allowing the cutting moisture content to be set in a continuous treatment process without generating dust.

For example, a wet tobacco stem material of Burley cigarettes, having a moisture content on the order of about 70 wt.%, May be obtained from tobacco stem materials produced from other classes of cigarettes such as, for example, Such that the final moisture content of the mixed tobacco stem material is such that after the storage time of at least 15 hours the total mixture is in the range of about 28% to 42% So that it can be cut with a final moisture content. Thus, there is an advantage that the production cost of such a cuttable mixture is reduced by eliminating the need to provide moisture to additional tobacco stem materials such as, for example, stem materials of Virginia tobacco.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the pressure and thus the tobacco stem material that is humidified under high temperature is maintained for longer than the processed tobacco stem material according to the conventional humidification method. Water is used as a solvent for convenience because it is relatively inexpensive and also very suitable for nitrate removal.

The process is preferably carried out at elevated temperatures, which further improves the efficiency of the process.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the process is carried out in a continuous flow of the tobacco stem material and also the solvent, so that it can be connected to a continuous working process. As the solvent is continuously exchanged, the nitrate extracted from the tobacco stem material is increased in the solvent, thereby preventing the nitrate removal action of the tobacco stem material from being disturbed. That is, the nitrate extracted from the tobacco stem material passed first is concentrated at a high concentration, and the effect of removing the predetermined nitrate is greatly reduced, so that the later tobacco stem material is prevented from passing through the solvent whose efficiency is deteriorated by the above- It is ensured that the continuously passing tobacco stem material can be processed under certain conditions.

The ratio of the mass flow of the dried tobacco stem material to the mass flow of the solvent is most preferably 0.25.

Also preferably, the solvent is present in the liquid phase in a bath. The gaseous phase of the solvent serves to set the excess pressure in the extractor and thus the elevated temperature as the nitrate removal action is optimized and accelerated. It is therefore particularly important to ensure that the level of the solvent bath is kept constant since the solvent is carried away by the moist tobacco stem material.

Therefore, the nitrate removal action taking place in the housing can for example take place in two steps: first the tobacco stem material provided in the solvent tank is passed through a first stripping process, The solvent supply reaches the area of the housing where another solvent supply is made, which in turn influences the second removal process by replacing the surface solvent on the tobacco stem material with a new solvent, especially in the form of a nozzle supply.

In the nitric acid removing step, it is preferable to continuously add a high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous solvent so that the pressure and temperature of the solvent in the liquid phase and thus the conditions in the housing can be precisely set.

For the sake of convenience, the rotation speed of the feeder screw may be variable, so that the residence time of the tobacco stem material in the housing may be set to approximately 1 to 6 minutes. Similarly, the residence time can be set by the external shape of the feeder screw such as lead, pitch, and length.

Similarly, the mass flow of the tobacco stem material introduced into the housing can be set so that precisely determined tobacco stem material can be removed.

In one variation of the method, the solvent taken continuously from the housing at the first point is returned at the second point so that various steps such as, for example, adding another solvent to condense the solvent taken from the housing And a mixture of liquid and gaseous phase. However, it is preferable to add a new solvent which is preferably not a solvent containing nitrate.

The process is preferably carried out at an absolute pressure of from about 1.5 bar to about 3.0 bar, especially about 1.9 bar. Thus, during the implementation of the method, there is an overpressure within the housing of between about 0.5 bar and 2.0 bar, preferably 0.9 bar.

The apparatus for carrying out the method comprises a substantially cylindrical long housing provided with a feeder screw therein and pressure-tightly sealed, and further comprises a housing for supplying pressure and / or pressure to continuously supply and discharge the solvent and / A sealing lock and / or a nozzle are provided. The longitudinal axis of the housing is inclined at an angle of 5 ° to 20 °, preferably 10 °, with respect to the horizontal portion, such that the tobacco stem material passing in the longitudinal direction of the housing by this inclined position is located at the bottom end of the housing It is better mixed with the solvent in the collecting tank.

[Example]

The pressure regulating screw 1 shown in Fig. 1 comprises a cylindrical, long housing 9 which is partitioned at both ends by a seal 3, 4 and pressure-sealed. There is an overpressure of about 0.9 bar in the housing. The longitudinal axis of the pressure adjusting screw 1 is inclined at an angle? Of approximately 10 degrees with respect to the horizontal portion.

A feeder screw 2 rotatably mounted on a center line 8 coinciding with the center line of the pressure adjusting screw 1 is provided inside the pressure adjusting screw 1. [ The housing 9 includes a vapor nozzle 6 through which steam can be filled in the pressure regulating screw 1. [ Further, the water supply nozzle 7 is distributed over the entire length of the pressure adjusting screw 1, so that water can be introduced into the pressure adjusting screw 1. At the bottom end of the pressure adjusting screw 1, a working water bath 12 is regulated to a predetermined level through water supply and drainage. Steam 13 is present in the remaining inner space of the pressure adjusting screw 1 above the water tank 12. [

The bulk material R of the burley cigarette containing a large amount of nitrate reaches the inside of the housing 9 through the pressure sealing device 3 of the pressure adjusting screw 1 from the vloume metering unit 5, And is guided toward the upper end of the pressure adjusting screw 1 by the feeder screw 2 which is continuously rotated. By this arrangement, the tobacco stem material R passes first through the water tank 12 and then through the inner region of the pressure adjusting screw 1 in which the steam 13 is filled. When the stem material R containing a large amount of nitrate is passed through the inner region of the housing 9 filled with the water tank 12 and the steam 13, the stem material R becomes damp and the stem material R ) Is dissolved from the stem material (R) by water (12) which is a solvent, and enters the solvent. After passing through the solvent tank 12, the nitrate-reduced stem material is rinsed with the new solvent introduced from the nozzle 14 to replace the surface solvent of the stem material. The low-nitrate stem material R ', which is humidified at the upper end of the pressure adjusting screw 1, is taken out of the pressure adjusting screw 1 through the pressure-tightening locking device 4 and is used for another treatment process, It is possible to have a water content of about 70% to be mixed with a dry tobacco material such as a stem material.

An outlet 10 is provided in the region of the water tank 12 of the pressure adjusting screw 1 through which a two-phase mixture of the solvent consisting of the vapor 13 and the water 12 flows from the inside of the pressure adjusting screw 1 And discharged through the duct E1. The two-phase mixture conveyed through the duct E1 reaches the steam trap 11, and the condensate is discharged from the steam trap 11 via the duct E2.

This whole process is carried out at a temperature in the range of approximately 100 ° C to 130 ° C, in particular at a temperature of 118 ° C, thus improving the life of the tobacco stem materials (R, R ').

The residence time of the tobacco stem material R in the housing 9, particularly in the water tank, can be set or adjusted, and the treatment time of the tobacco stem material passing through the housing is usually about 1 to 6 minutes. Precise setting of the residence time can be done by adjusting the rotation speed of the feeder screw 2 in particular.

Another substantial parameter of the method is the mass flow of the tobacco stem material (R) supplied to the pressure regulating screw (1) and the volume of the water tank, while the replacement amount of water containing fresh water and, on the other hand, Need to be.

The ratio of mass flow (kg) of dried cigarette to mass flow (kg) of water should be within the range of approximately 0.5 to 0.031, preferably 0.25.

The method can also be carried out in countercurrent. That is, the flow direction of the solvent and the tobacco stem material (R, R ') are opposite to each other so that the first flow of the process (the solvent or the tobacco stem material R') flows in the second flow (the tobacco stem material (R) And is guided from the upper part to the lower part.

Figure 2 shows how the nitrate content of the tobacco stem material (R ') depends on the treatment time of the tobacco stem material (R') through the device according to the invention. The introduced tobacco stem material R had approximately 5.25% nitrate, the absolute pressure in the pressure adjusting screw 1 was 1.9 bar at 118 캜, and the mass flow of the dried tobacco stem material was set at 45 kg / h .

After the treatment for 240 seconds, the nitrate content of the tobacco stem materials (R, R ') has been reduced to 50% or more, that is, about 2.4%, and further improvement is possible, but it takes considerable cost and residence time.

According to the method of the present invention, nitrate can be removed from the tobacco stem material at a fast and cheap price, and the residence time of the tobacco stem material through the housing can be set within about 1 to 6 minutes.

1 is a schematic illustration of a pressure regulating screw as well as a flow diagram of a material flow included in the method.

Figure 2 illustrates how the nitrate content of the treated tobacco stem material depends on the treatment time through the device according to the invention.

Description of the Related Art [0002]

One ; Pressure adjusting screw 2; Feeder screw

3, 4; Pressure seal lock 5; Volumetric measuring device

6; Steam nozzle 7; Water supply nozzle

8 ; Centerline 9; housing

10; Outlet 11; Steam trap

Claims (17)

a) inserting the tobacco stem material into the interior of the housing; b) guiding the tobacco stem material through a water bath using a feeder screw; c) removing the tobacco stem material from the housing, d) the interior of the housing is pressed; e) the tobacco stem material is guided through the steam in the housing by feeder screws downstream of the tub; f) the tobacco stem material is water rinsed while being treated with steam; g) the residence time through the housing is between 1 and 6 minutes. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature inside the housing is maintained in a temperature range of 100 ° C to 130 ° C. The method of claim 1, wherein the tobacco stem material is treated. The method of claim 1, wherein a continuous stream of tobacco stem material, water, or both is utilized. The method of claim 1, wherein the water is continuously exchanged. The method of claim 1, wherein the water in the housing is in a liquid phase and a gaseous phase. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the gaseous phase of water is supplied to the housing. The method of claim 1, wherein the retention time of the tobacco stem material in the water tank is set. The tobacco stem material according to claim 1, wherein the mass flow of the tobacco stem material is set so that the ratio of the mass flow (kg) of the dry cigarette to the mass flow (kg) of water is in the range of 0.5 to 0.031 Removal method. The method of claim 1, wherein the tobacco stem material is treated by an additional treatment process. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the absolute pressure inside the housing is maintained in the range of 1.5 to 3.0 bar. a) a cylindrical, long pressure-sealed housing; b) a feeder screw rotatably mounted within the housing; c) a pressure seal locking device and means for housing the liquid and gaseous solvents as well as for inserting and removing the tobacco stem material, d) the vertical axis of the housing is inclined at an angle of 5 to 20 with respect to the horizontal part, so that the water tank is present in the bottom area of the housing, e) said housing comprises a plurality of nozzles for supplying liquid and gaseous solvents, f) a nozzle for cleaning the tobacco stem material passing through the water tank. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature inside the housing is maintained at 118 占 폚. The method of claim 1, wherein the absolute pressure inside the housing is maintained at 1.9 bar. 13. The nitrate removal device of claim 12, wherein the longitudinal axis of the housing is inclined at an angle of 10 degrees with respect to the horizontal portion. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the retention time of the tobacco stem material in the water tank is set by controlling the feed rate. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the tobacco stem material is treated by a solvent shower process.