WO2012132008A1

WO2012132008A1 - Tobacco material expansion method and device

Info

Publication number: WO2012132008A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/058342
Authority: WO
Inventors: 田口　聡; 宏海植松; 西村　学; 幸司坂本; 和之土澤
Original assignee: 日本たばこ産業株式会社
Priority date: 2011-03-31
Filing date: 2011-03-31
Publication date: 2012-10-04
Also published as: JP5948316B2; JPWO2012132008A1; EP2692247A1; EP2692247A4; EP2692247B1

Abstract

A tobacco material expansion method contains: a step for rotating tobacco material and contacting the same with a water vapor flow of 100-160°C, and moistening and expanding the tobacco material; and a step for contacting the moistened and expanded tobacco material with a superheated water vapor flow having a higher temperature than that of the water vapor flow, and drying the shredded midrib. This expansion method makes it is possible to increase the expansion properties of the tobacco material compared to the prior art.

Description

Method and apparatus for expanding tobacco raw materials

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for expanding tobacco raw materials.

Tobacco raw materials (for example, middle bones) are separated from tobacco leaves and occupy 20 to 30% by weight of the tobacco leaves. Incision of the middle bone (intermediate bone incision) is used for tobacco engraving together with the debonation of tobacco leaves from which the intermediate bone has been removed for the purpose of effective use of tobacco raw materials. The middle bone is generally obtained by compressing and cutting the middle bone. This medium bone engraving is subjected to expansion treatment by humidity adjustment and drying in order to enhance the bulkiness and combustibility and to relax the taste. A conventional scallop expansion process and related techniques will be described below.

Japanese Patent No. 4031115 discloses a method and apparatus for applying a conditioning agent to tobacco raw materials. This apparatus has a structure in which a nozzle hole is attached to a projecting portion such as an impeller having a rotating Kara type roll (hereinafter referred to as Winoa), for example, a banding pin. In this method, the apparatus is used, spraying the vapor from the nozzle onto the free-falling tobacco raw material before spraying the conditioning agent, and then transporting it to the drying section.

US Pat. No. 4,766,912 discloses a method and apparatus for expanding tobacco raw materials. This apparatus has a vibrating conveyor for transporting tobacco raw materials, and sprays steam through the holes on the lower surface of the vibrating conveyor and feeds the tobacco raw materials while vibrating, and a fluidized bed dryer. It is described to improve and improve the bulkiness of tobacco raw materials. U.S. Pat. No. 2,802,334 relates to the U.S. Pat. No. 2,802,334, for a closed transfer line formed as a vibrating conveyor having an inlet and an outlet and for supplying steam or heated gas to the bottom of the transfer line. A supply device and a device with spray holes are disclosed.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-3778 discloses a method for drying cigarettes and an apparatus therefor in which a two-stage airflow drying process is continuously performed. That is, a tobacco raw material is supplied into a high-temperature gaseous medium, moves to a first separation device through a first duct, and separates the raw material and the gaseous medium. A hot gaseous medium is supplied to the second duct, while the separated tobacco raw material is supplied downstream of the first separator. The tobacco raw material and the hot gas medium are transferred to the second separation device through the second duct and separated. By passing through the two drying sections in this manner, 1) the time for continuously exposing the tobacco raw material to the high-temperature gaseous medium can be shortened, 2) excessive overheating can be eliminated, and 3) the tobacco raw material can be removed. It is accelerated in two stages, and the drying efficiency due to the relative speed difference can be improved. It also describes the use of a separation device for shortening the contact time between the tobacco raw material and the high-temperature gaseous medium.

However, the above-described conventional technology has the following problems.

Patent No. 4031115 has a short passage time of the tobacco raw material and the vapor in the apparatus from the description of the free fall speed, the effective height of the apparatus, and the rotational speed of the winor (200 rpm). Therefore, the tobacco raw material is not sufficiently wetted and swollen due to the short contact time with the steam. In addition, since Winoa has a rotating part, the deterioration of parts is fast. Furthermore, the tobacco raw material is easily entangled with the rotating part. Intertwined tobacco materials have a great influence on taste and physical properties.

US Pat. No. 4,766,912 has a structure in which a steam spraying device conveys raw materials by vibration and sprays steam from a hole in the bottom of the vibrating conveyor. For this reason, since the deterioration of the drive component due to vibration is fast, the durability is inferior. Further, vapor spray from the bottom surface of the vibration conveyor uses, for example, pores having a diameter of 0.8 mm. For this reason, scales (inorganic substances such as calcium carbonate) contained in the steam and fine powder of tobacco raw material are clogged in the pores. Pore clogging causes fluctuations in the amount of steam and destabilizes the quality of the tobacco raw material after processing.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-3778, the two-stage air-drying process is performed using two separators connected in series, so that the drying of the tobacco material proceeds at each stage. However, due to the characteristics of the apparatus, the contact time between the tobacco raw material and the high-temperature humid air or superheated steam flow becomes extremely short. As a result, it becomes difficult to sufficiently wet or swell the tobacco material. In addition, the tobacco material is deposited on the mesh screen of the separator, and the exhaust system is blocked. For this reason, the continuous operation of the separator is hindered.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for expanding tobacco raw materials that can increase the bulkiness of tobacco raw materials as compared with conventional methods.

The present invention provides a tobacco raw material expansion apparatus having a simple structure capable of increasing the bulkiness of tobacco raw materials as compared with conventional methods and realizing continuous processing and high durability.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the cigarette raw material is swirled and contacted with a water vapor flow of 100 to 160 ° C. to wet and swell the tobacco raw material, and the wet and swollen tobacco raw material is dried. There is provided a method for expanding a tobacco raw material containing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a cyclone having an inlet, an exhaust outlet and an outlet, a supply duct connected to the cyclone inlet, an exhaust duct connected to the cyclone outlet, and the supply A steam supply section connected to the duct, a tobacco raw material supply section connected to the supply duct located between the connection section of the steam supply section and the inlet of the cyclone, and the cyclone discharge port. There is provided a tobacco raw material expansion apparatus including a tobacco raw material transported and a dryer for drying the tobacco raw material.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a tobacco raw material expansion apparatus according to an embodiment.

Hereinafter, a method for expanding a tobacco material according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

(First step)
The cigarette material is swirled with a steam flow of 100 to 160 ° C. to come into contact with the tobacco material to wet and swell.

For example, a medium bone can be used as the tobacco material. The medium bone engraving is obtained by separating the rod-shaped medium bone from the tobacco leaf, and compressing and cutting the rod-shaped medium bone material according to a conventional method. Specifically, the rod-shaped medium bone raw material is conditioned to a moisture content of, for example, 15 to 50% by weight, preferably 20 to 40% by weight. For example, the control rod-shaped medium bone material is squeezed with a roll mill having a roll interval of 0.5 to 1.2 mm, and then cut into a width of 0.1 to 0.3 mm to produce a medium bone.

Steam has a temperature of 100 to 160 ° C., so that the tobacco raw material can be wetted and swollen without drying. A more preferable temperature of water vapor is 110 to 150 ° C.

The cigarette raw material can be swirled together with the water vapor flow by introducing the tobacco raw material into the cyclone together with the water vapor flow. The residence time by swirling is preferably 0.5 to 5 seconds.

Condensation heat transfer of water vapor to the tobacco raw material occurs by bringing the tobacco raw material into contact with the water vapor flow at the above temperature and residence time. Condensation heat transfer raises the moisture and temperature (product temperature) of the tobacco raw material, making the tobacco tissue soft and causing it to wet and swell. When the tobacco raw material is brought into contact with the water vapor stream at the above temperature and residence time, the wet and swollen tobacco raw material is not dried, and the moisture content of the tobacco raw material is the same as before contact with the water vapor flow or within 5% by weight. To increase.

(Second step)
The wet and swollen tobacco material is dried and thereby expanded.

Drying can be performed by bringing the tobacco material into contact with a superheated steam flow or heated air flow.

It is preferable that the superheated steam flow has a temperature higher than the temperature of the steam in the first step. Thus, when the superheated steam flow has a temperature higher than the temperature of the water vapor in the first step, the wet and swollen tobacco raw material can be efficiently dried. The superheated steam flow preferably has a temperature range of 160 to 300 ° C. at a temperature higher than the temperature of the steam in the first step. For example, when the temperature of the superheated steam is 160 ° C., the steam temperature in the first step is set to a temperature lower than 160 ° C., and the temperature of the superheated steam is set to be higher than the steam temperature. A more preferable temperature of the superheated steam is 180 to 280 ° C.

Various existing methods can be employed to bring the wet and swollen tobacco material into contact with the superheated steam flow. In particular, it is preferred that the cigarette raw material is swirled with the superheated steam flow. The turning can be performed using, for example, a cyclone. The residence time by swirling is preferably 2 to 15 seconds.

The moisture content of the tobacco raw material can be reduced to, for example, 3 to 15% by weight by the drying step.

According to the method for expanding a tobacco raw material according to the embodiment described above, the tobacco raw material (for example, a medium bone) is not damaged by first swirling the tobacco raw material with a steam flow of 100 to 160 ° C. In addition, they can be contacted with water vapor in a dispersed state. As a result, the tobacco raw material can be efficiently wetted and swollen. Thereafter, the wet and swollen tobacco material is dried. This makes it possible to obtain an expanded tobacco material (for example, an expanded engraved bone) having a higher bulge than that obtained by directly drying a tobacco material that has been conditioned in the conventional manner. The wet and swollen tobacco material is dried by contacting it with heated air, preferably a superheated steam stream (especially a superheated steam stream at a temperature higher than that of the process, preferably in the temperature range of 160-300 ° C.). The bulkiness of the tobacco material can be further increased. By making the moisture content of the tobacco raw material after drying further lower than 12% by weight, it is possible to obtain an expanded tobacco raw material with greatly increased bulkiness.

Also, when the cigarette raw material is swirled with the water vapor flow and brought into contact with the water vapor in the wetting and swelling process, the time required for the wetting and swelling can be arbitrarily controlled by adjusting the water vapor amount and the exhaust amount. As a result, it is possible to freely control the bulkiness of the medium bone by the drying process.

Next, the tobacco material expansion apparatus according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The cyclone 1 has an inflow port 2 on the side wall, an exhaust port 3 on the top, and an exhaust port 4 on the bottom. One end of the supply duct 5 is connected to the inlet 2 of the cyclone 1. One end of the exhaust duct 6 is connected to the exhaust port 3 of the cyclone 1. The dryer 7 is disposed adjacent to the cyclone 1.

The water vapor supply pipe 8 is connected to the other end of the supply duct 5. The water vapor supply pipe 8 is provided with an on-off valve 9 for adjusting the amount of water vapor supplied. The heater 10 is disposed in the supply duct 5 portion located between the connection portion of the water vapor supply pipe 8 and the inlet 2 of the cyclone 1.

The tobacco raw material supply unit 11 is connected to the supply duct 5 located between the heater 10 and the inlet 2 of the cyclone 1 through the air locker 12.

The discharge port 4 of the cyclone 1 is connected to a discharge duct 13, and a second air locker 14 is interposed in the discharge duct 13. One end of the conveying member, for example, the vibration conveyor 15, is located on the discharge duct 13 side of the cyclone 1, and the other end is located on the dryer 7 side. The vibration conveyor 15 conveys the tobacco raw material discharged from the cyclone 1 to the dryer 7. As the conveying member, a belt conveyor can be used instead of the vibrating conveyor. When the dryer is an air flow dryer having a duct for circulating superheated steam, the discharge duct 13 of the cyclone 1 may be directly connected to the duct of the dryer.

The drain separator 16 and the exhaust fan 17 are arranged in this order from the exhaust port 3 of the cyclone 1 to the exhaust duct 6. The other end of the exhaust duct 6 is opened and discharges the water vapor flowing through it to the outside, or is connected to the dryer 7 through the branch duct 18 and is reused as a drying source of the dryer 7.

The diaphragm valve 19 is disposed in the branch duct 18. The pressure gauge 20 is connected to the branch duct 18 located on the dryer 7 side from the diaphragm valve 19. The opening degree of the diaphragm valve 19 is controlled based on pressure detection data (pressure detection signal) from the pressure gauge 20.

Next, a method for expanding tobacco raw materials by the tobacco raw material expansion apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

First, prepare tobacco raw materials (for example, engraved bones). In the medium bone engraving, the rod-shaped medium bone raw material is conditioned to a moisture content of 20 to 40% by weight (on a wet basis), and then rolled with a roll mill having a roll interval of 0.5 to 1.2 mm, and further, the width is set to 0. It is obtained by cutting at 1 to 0.3 mm.

A dry saturated water vapor of 1 to 7 bar is injected from the water vapor supply pipe 8 into the supply duct 5 at a gauge pressure. The steam flow is heated by the heater 10 of the supply duct 5 as necessary. Thereafter, the intermediate bone is continuously supplied from the tobacco raw material supply unit 11 to the supply duct 5 through the first air locker 12. By driving the exhaust fan 17 in advance, the medium bone is flown into the cyclone 1 from the supply duct 5 together with the water vapor flow at a temperature of 100 to 160 ° C., and swirls together with the water vapor flow. At this time, the amount of water in the middle bone is equal to that before supply or increased by 5% by weight, and is sufficiently wetted and swollen. The circulation time in the supply duct 5 and the turn in the cyclone 1 are preferably set to 0.5 to 5 seconds, for example.

の中 After turning, the inner bone is separated from the water vapor flow. The separated medium bone is discharged from the discharge duct 13 connected to the discharge port 4 of the cyclone 1 to the vibrating conveyor 15 through the second air locker 14. On the other hand, the water vapor flow is discharged from the exhaust port 3 of the cyclone 1 to the exhaust duct 6 by driving of the exhaust fan 17 and is discharged to the outside from here. While this water vapor flow passes through the exhaust duct 6, the water condensed in the water vapor flow is discharged from the drain separator 16.

The wet medium bone is transported to a dryer (for example, an air dryer) 7 by a vibration conveyor 15. In this air dryer 7, the wet medium bone is dried and expanded. Drying in the air dryer 7 can use a superheated steam flow or a heated air flow. The superheated steam flow preferably has a temperature range of 160 to 280 ° C. at a higher temperature than the steam supplied to the cyclone 1.

When the steam exhausted from the cyclone 1 is used as a part of superheated steam of the air dryer 7, the opening of the diaphragm valve 19 disposed in the branch duct 18 is detected from pressure detection data (pressure). The desired amount of water vapor flowing through the branch duct 18 is introduced into the air dryer 7.

The resulting swollen medium bone has a moisture content of 3 to 15% by weight. In addition, the bulging middle bone has a bulkiness of 580 to 750 cc / 100 g, and has a filling capacity of about 30 to about 70% compared to the bulkiness of the undried middle bone immediately after cutting (450 cc / 100 g). It becomes possible to increase.

In addition, in the drying process of the medium bone by the system of the second cyclone 21 and the second circulation duct 25, when the water content becomes, for example, 10% by weight or less, the medium bone is cut by a known method, for example, spraying of water. Allow reconditioning.

As described above, according to the tobacco raw material expansion apparatus according to the embodiment, the cigarette raw material (for example, the medium bone) is moistened by using the cyclone 1 and the supply duct 5 connected to the cyclone 1. Without being damaged, it is possible to efficiently make contact with the water vapor flow in a state in which the middle bones are dispersed. Further, the generation of the swirl flow by the middle bone in the cyclone 1 and the water vapor flow makes it possible to lengthen the residence time of the middle bone in the water vapor flow even if the device scale is reduced. As a result, it is possible to efficiently wet and swell the middle bone, and to obtain an expanded middle bone having increased bulkiness by subsequent drying with the air dryer 7.

In addition, the cyclone 1 and the supply duct 5 incorporated in the expansion device have a very simplified structure and do not require rotating parts and mesh screens as in the conventional device. Wet and dry treatment can be performed.

Furthermore, if the branch duct 18 is branched from the exhaust duct 6 connected to the exhaust port 3 of the cyclone 1, and this branch duct 18 is connected to the air dryer 7 (for example, the air dryer using the superheated steam flow), the cyclone 1 Water vapor flowing through the branch duct 18 through the exhaust duct 6 can be effectively used as part of the superheated steam of the dryer 7, and energy saving operation can be realized.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the tobacco raw material expansion apparatus shown in FIG.

(Example 1: Comparative example)
In this example 1, the drying process was performed using the air dryer 7 of FIG.

First, 100% by weight of a yellow seed rod-shaped medium bone material was conditioned to a water content of 37% by a method known to those skilled in the art, for example, spraying water or water vapor. This rod-shaped medium bone was squeezed with a pair of rollers having a gap of 0.8 mm, and then cut into a width of 0.2 mm to prepare a medium bone as a tobacco raw material.

The medium bone was continuously introduced into the air dryer 7 at a flow rate of 25 kg / hour based on the wet weight. The air dryer is composed of a duct having a diameter of about 100 mm and a length of about 22 m, and a cyclone having a diameter of about 460 mm and an effective height of the separation portion of about 1.4 m. The drying medium that circulates through the duct at the medium-diameter inlet has a vapor pressure of 90 bar% (appears almost as a superheated steam flow) and a gauge pressure of 2 bar (0.2 MPa) so that the flow rate is 25 m / sec. ) Saturated water vapor at 40 kg / hour. That is, the medium bone was circulated through the duct with a superheated steam flow at 280 ° C., swirled with a superheated steam flow in a cyclone, dried and expanded. The residence time of the swirl was 5 seconds.

(Examples 2 and 3; comparative examples)
In the duct of the air dryer 7, the medium bone was dried and expanded in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the temperature of the superheated steam flow circulating along with the medium bone was set to 260 ° C and 210 ° C, respectively.

(Example 4: Example)
In Example 4, the above-described tobacco raw material expansion apparatus shown in FIG. 1 was used.

A medium bone carved (water content: 37% by weight, width: 0.2 mm) subjected to the same treatment as in Example 1 was prepared.

About 40 kg from the nozzle portion (diameter 3 mm) of the water vapor supply pipe 8 to the supply duct 5 (diameter: about 50 mm, length: about 0.6 m) in which saturated water vapor with a gauge pressure of 5 bar (0.5 MPa) is disposed horizontally. Squirted at a flow rate of / hour. The medium bone was continuously introduced from the tobacco raw material supply unit 11 through the first air locker 12 into the supply duct 5 at a flow rate of 36 kg / hour on the basis of the weight of the wet substance. At this time, the steam flow through the supply duct 5 was saturated steam having a temperature of 150 ° C. By driving the exhaust fan 17 in advance, the skeleton is introduced into the cyclone 1 (diameter: about 250 mm, effective height of separation part about 0.75 m) together with the steam flow from the supply duct 5 and swirls with the steam flow. Wet and swollen. The passage time between the supply duct 5 and the cyclone 1 (residence time was 1.5 seconds) was about 1.8 seconds. The moisture content of the wet medium bone was 39% by weight, an increase of 2% by weight from the moisture content at the time of humidity control (37% by weight).

Next, the wet medium bone discharged from the cyclone 1 is continuously introduced into the air dryer 7 by the vibration conveyor 15, and the wet medium bone is dried with a superheated steam flow under the same conditions as in Example 1 described above. Swelled. The temperature of superheated steam was 280 ° C.

Example 5 Example
In the duct of the air dryer 7, the wet medium bone was dried and expanded in the same manner as in Example 4 except that the temperature of the superheated steam flow circulating with the medium bone was 215 ° C.

The obtained engraved bones of Examples 1 to 5 were stored (harmonized) in a constant temperature and humidity chamber at a temperature of 22.0 ° C. and a relative humidity of 60% for one week to obtain equilibrium moisture, and then the swelling property was measured. .

Bulge property indicates the filling ability when the cigarette is made into a cigarette that can be smoked. For this measurement, D51 manufactured by Borgwaldt of Germany was used. In the test, the bulkiness of the bulging medium was measured repeatedly 5 times, and the average value was calculated.

In addition, the water content of the expanded carved bone is calculated from the weight difference between before and after drying, after putting the expanded expanded carved bone of about 2 g into a weighing bottle, drying in a natural convection oven at a temperature of 100 ° C. for 1 hour. The average value of points was obtained.

[Supplement under rule 26 26.04.2011]
Table 1 below shows the bulkiness and water content of the expanded engraved bone of Examples 1 to 5.

As is clear from Table 1 above, Examples 4 and 5 in which the sculpture during humidification was wetted with steam at a temperature of 150 ° C. before drying with the superheated steam flow, It can be seen that the bulging property is increased (improved) by 50 cc / 100 g or more as compared with Examples 1 to 3, which are not wetted with a water vapor stream before drying by.

Such an improvement in bulkiness of 50 cc / 100 g or more corresponds to about 10% in terms of the rate. Since the bulkiness of the unprocessed medium bone before drying (after humidity conditioning and cutting) is 410 cc / 100 g, for example, in Example 4, the expansion rate increases to 51%, which is a very excellent expansion method. It was confirmed.

(Example 6: Comparative example)
First, a rod-shaped medium bone material mixed at a ratio of 70% by weight of yellow seed and 30% by weight of Burley seed was conditioned to a water content of 37% by a method known to those skilled in the art, for example, spraying water or steam. This rod-shaped middle bone was squeezed with a pair of rollers having a gap of 0.8 mm, and then cut into a width of 0.2 mm to prepare a middle bone as a tobacco raw material.

In addition, a wetting device equipped with a tunnel-type vibrating conveyor and having a plurality of holes for spraying water vapor on the lower surface of the conveyor was prepared. This apparatus has an outer dimension of 3800 mm in length, 400 mm in width and 1500 mm in height, and a water vapor spray section (length) of 2400 mm.

Next, the medium bone was supplied on the tunnel type vibrating conveyor of the wetting device at a rate of 320 kg / hour on the basis of the wet weight. While transporting the medium bone on the tunnel-type vibratory conveyor, 130 kg / hour (water vapor spraying) of saturated water vapor at a temperature of 150 ° C. and a gauge pressure of 5 bar (0.5 MPa) from the plurality of holes on the lower surface of the conveyor toward the medium bone The total amount of water vapor sprayed in the section) was sprayed to wet and swell the middle bone. The moisture content of the wet medium bone was 39.0% by weight, an increase of 2% by weight from the moisture content at the time of humidity control (37.0% by weight).

The wet and swollen medium bone is continuously supplied to the air dryer having the same structure as in Example 1 described above at a flow rate of 25 kg / hour on the basis of the weight of the wet substance, and the superheated steam flow is performed under the same conditions as in Example 1 described above. It was dried at (temperature: 220 ° C.) and expanded.

(Example 7: Example)
About 40 kg from the nozzle part (diameter 3 mm) of the steam supply pipe 8 to the supply duct 5 (diameter: about 50 mm, length: about 0.6 m) in which saturated water vapor with a gauge pressure of 5 bar (0.5 MPa) is disposed horizontally. Squirted at a flow rate of / hour. The same middle bone as in Example 6 (water content: 37% by weight) was continuously introduced from the tobacco raw material supply unit 11 through the first air locker 12 into the supply duct 5 at a flow rate of 36 kg / hour on the basis of the weight of the wet substance. At this time, the steam flow through the supply duct 5 was saturated steam having a temperature of 150 ° C. By driving the exhaust fan 17 in advance, the skeleton is introduced into the cyclone 1 (diameter: about 250 mm, effective height of separation part about 0.75 m) from the supply duct 5 together with the water vapor flow, and swirls with the water vapor flow. Wet and swollen. The passage time between the supply duct 5 and the cyclone 1 (residence time was 1.5 seconds) was about 1.8 seconds. The moisture content of the wet medium bone was 39% by weight, an increase of 2% by weight from the moisture content at the time of humidity control (37% by weight).

Next, the wet medium bone discharged from the cyclone 1 is continuously introduced into the air dryer 7 by the vibration conveyor 15, and the wet medium bone is dried with a superheated steam flow under the same conditions as in Example 1 described above. Swelled. The temperature of superheated steam was 220 ° C.

The obtained engraved bones of Example 6 and Example 7 were stored (harmonized) in a constant temperature and humidity chamber at a temperature of 22.0 ° C. and a relative humidity of 60% for one week to obtain equilibrium moisture, and then the above-described Examples 1 to 1 The bulkiness was measured by the same method as in No. 5.

Also, the amount of water in the expanded bone was determined in the same manner as in Examples 1 to 5 described above.

[Supplement under rule 26 26.04.2011]
These results are shown in Table 2 below.

As is clear from Table 2, Example 7 in which the medium bone was wetted and swollen with a cyclone and dried with a superheated steam flow is a tunnel-type vibrating conveyor having a plurality of holes for spraying water vapor. It was confirmed that the bulkiness can be increased as compared with Example 6 in which the time was wetted and swollen and drying was performed with a superheated steam flow.

Claims

Swirling the tobacco raw material with a water vapor flow at 100 to 160 ° C. to wet and swell the tobacco raw material,
And a step of drying the tobacco raw material after the wetting and swelling.
The method for expanding a tobacco material according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco material before contact with the water vapor stream is conditioned to 15 to 50 wt%.
The method for expanding a tobacco raw material according to claim 1, wherein the wet and swollen tobacco raw material has the same water content as the tobacco raw material before contact with the water vapor stream or a water content increased within 5% by weight.
The method for expanding a tobacco raw material according to claim 1, wherein a residence time by the swirling is 0.5 to 5 seconds.
2. The method for expanding a tobacco material according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco material is dried by contacting with a superheated steam flow or heated air.
The method for expanding a tobacco raw material according to claim 5, wherein the superheated steam flow has a temperature higher than that of the steam.
The method for expanding a tobacco raw material according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the tobacco raw material is a medium bone.
A cyclone having an inlet, an outlet and an outlet;
A supply duct connected to the inlet of the cyclone;
An exhaust duct connected to the exhaust port of the cyclone;
A water vapor supply unit connected to the supply duct;
A tobacco raw material supply part connected to the supply duct located between the connection part of the water vapor supply part and the inlet of the cyclone;
A cigarette raw material expansion apparatus comprising: a cigarette raw material discharged from the cyclone discharge port; and a dryer for drying the tobacco raw material.
The tobacco material expansion apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the exhaust duct is branched, and the branch duct is connected to the dryer.