The present invention relates to apparatuses, systems, and associated methods for producing porous masses that may be used for smoke filters.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has set forth recommendations for the reduction of certain components of tobacco smoke. See: WHO Technical Report Series No. 951, The Scientific Basis of Tobacco Product Regulation, World Health Organization (2008). Therein, the WHO recommends that certain components, such as acetaldehyde, acrolein, benzene, benzoapyrene, 1,3-butadiene, and formaldehyde, among others, be reduced to a level below 125% of the median values of the data set. Ibid., Table 3.10, page 112. In view of new international recommendations related to tobacco product regulation, there is a need for new tobacco smoke filters and materials used to make tobacco smoke filters that are able to meet these regulations.
The draw resistance of other smoking articles, e.g., cigarettes, is a major determinant of the draw characteristic(s) of the cigarette which are experienced by a smoker. One measure of draw characteristics is the encapsulated pressure drop. As used herein, the term “encapsulated pressure drop” or “EPD” refers to the static pressure difference between the two ends of a specimen when it is traversed by an air flow under steady conditions when the volumetric flow is 17.5 ml/sec at the output end and when the specimen is completely encapsulated in a measuring device so that no air can pass through the wrapping. EPD has been measured herein under the CORESTA (“Cooperation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco”) Recommended Method No. 41, dated June 2007. Higher EPD values translate to the smoker having to draw on a smoking device with greater force.
Increasingly, governmental regulations require higher filtration efficacies in removing harmful components from tobacco smoke. By way of nonlimiting example, the World Health Organization recommends that certain components, such as acetaldehyde, acrolein, benzene, benzoapyrene, 1,3-butadiene, and formaldehyde, among others, be reduced to a level below 125% of the median values of the data set.
With present cellulose acetate, higher filtration efficacies can be achieved by doping with increasing concentrations of particles like activated carbon. However, increasing particulate concentration increases the EPD thereby yielding different draw characteristics for smokers. Therefore, technologies with higher filtration efficacies with minimal effect on EPD would be of value.