Processing method for rolling method sheet

Abstract

The invention provides a processing method of a sheet by a rolling method, which comprises the following steps: a) premixing a powdery raw material with fibers, and uniformly mixing with a liquid raw material to obtain a mixed material; and b) carrying out roll forming on the mixed material obtained in the step a), and then carrying out cold plasma treatment and drying in sequence to obtain the treated roll-pressing-method sheet. Compared with the prior art, the treatment method provided by the invention adopts specific process steps, realizes overall better interaction, and can improve the drying rate of the slices and shorten the drying time; meanwhile, as the drying time is shortened, the energy consumption is correspondingly reduced, and the production cost is reduced; moreover, the treatment method also reduces the loss of additives such as flavors and fragrances in the drying process, improves the product quality, and reduces the raw material cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of heat-not-burn cigarette production and manufacturing, and more specifically to a method for processing thin sheets produced by a roller pressing method. Background Art

[0002] As a new type of tobacco product, the production and manufacturing method of special tobacco leaf sheets for heat-not-burn cigarettes has become the focus of industry attention. Roller-pressed reconstituted tobacco leaf sheets are currently the mainstream method for manufacturing special tobacco leaf sheets for heat-not-burn cigarettes. Tobacco powder and fiber are mixed and then evenly mixed with atomizers, flavors and fragrances, water and other additives. Roller-pressed sheets are obtained after multi-stage roller pressing and oven drying. However, in the oven drying process, in order to achieve the ideal moisture content requirements, a long drying time is required, and the production energy consumption is high; and a large amount of flavors and fragrances are evaporated and lost due to heat, resulting in economic waste. Therefore, it is very necessary to increase the hot air drying rate of the sheets and reduce the drying time to reduce production costs and improve product quality.

[0003] Cold plasma technology is an emerging non-thermal food processing technology with the characteristics of strong adaptability, high working efficiency and environmental protection. It has attracted extensive attention due to its outstanding application performance in the fields of food processing, environmental hygiene, and medical health. Studies have shown that cold plasma treatment can cause etching on the surface of the substance, increase the water diffusion rate, and increase the drying speed. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for processing roll-pressed flakes, using cold plasma technology to process roll-pressed flakes and improve the hot air drying rate to solve the problems of long drying time, high energy consumption and serious loss of flavors and fragrances in the prior art.

[0005] The present invention provides a method for processing a roll-pressed sheet, comprising the following steps:

[0006] a) premixing the powdered raw material with the fiber and then mixing the mixture with the liquid raw material to obtain a mixed material;

[0007] b) The mixed material obtained in step a) is roll-formed, and then treated with cold plasma and dried in sequence to obtain a treated roll-pressed sheet.

[0008] Preferably, the powdery raw material in step a) is composed of a matrix powder and an adhesive in a mass ratio of 100:(1-5);

[0009] The matrix powder is selected from one or more of tobacco powder or other non-tobacco plant-based powders such as rattan tea powder, black tea powder, lotus leaf powder, and corn cob powder; the adhesive is selected from one or more of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, and tamarind polysaccharide.

[0010] Preferably, in step a), the mass ratio of the powdered raw material to the fiber is 103:(1-5).

[0011] Preferably, the liquid raw material in step a) is a mixed solution of water, atomizer, flavor and nicotine salt;

[0012] The atomizer is selected from one or more of propylene glycol, glycerol, and polyethylene glycol; the flavor is selected from one of blueberry flavor, sweet orange flavor, mint flavor, coffee flavor, green tea flavor, pineapple flavor, and grape flavor;

[0013] The mass ratio of the liquid raw material to the powdered raw material is (50-70):103.

[0014] Preferably, in the mixed solution of water, atomizer, flavor and nicotine salt, the mass ratio of water to atomizer is (25-35): (25-35), the content of flavor is 1‰-5‰, and the content of nicotine salt is 0‰-5‰.

[0015] Preferably, the roll forming process in step b) is performed by using a multi-stage roll pressing unit.

[0016] Preferably, the cold plasma treatment device in step b) is a compact atmospheric pressure cold plasma jet generator, and the working gas is air.

[0017] Preferably, the object of the cold plasma treatment in step b) is the upper and lower surfaces of the slice.

[0018] Preferably, the output power of the cold plasma treatment in step b) is 500W to 1000W, the cold plasma gas flow rate is 100L / min to 500L / min, the jet distance is 10cm to 30cm, and the cold plasma treatment time is not less than 30s.

[0019] Preferably, the drying temperature in step b) is 70° C. to 100° C., and the moisture content after drying is not higher than 10%.

[0020] The present invention provides a method for processing a roll-pressed thin sheet, comprising the following steps: a) premixing a powdered raw material with fibers, and then uniformly mixing the powdered raw material with a liquid raw material to obtain a mixed material; b) rolling the mixed material obtained in step a) into shape, and then sequentially subjecting it to cold plasma treatment and drying to obtain a treated roll-pressed thin sheet. Compared with the prior art, the processing method provided by the present invention adopts specific process steps to achieve overall better interaction: the upper and lower surfaces of the roll-pressed thin sheet are treated with green, safe, and environmentally friendly cold plasma technology, and then hot air drying is performed, so that the upper and lower surfaces of the thin sheet are etched, the evaporation of surface moisture is accelerated, the surface moisture content is reduced, the moisture content gradient is increased, and the moisture diffusion rate is accelerated, thereby increasing the drying rate of the thin sheet and shortening the drying time; at the same time, due to the shortening of the drying time, the energy consumption is correspondingly reduced, and the production cost is reduced; and the processing method also reduces the loss of additives such as flavors and fragrances during the drying process, improves product quality, and reduces raw material costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the operation of the cold plasma device in the embodiment of the present invention (front view);

[0022] Figure 2 Schematic diagram (side view) of a cold plasma generating device in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0024] The present invention provides a method for processing a roll-pressed sheet, comprising the following steps:

[0025] a) premixing the powdered raw material with the fiber and then mixing the mixture with the liquid raw material to obtain a mixed material;

[0026] b) The mixed material obtained in step a) is roll-formed, and then treated with cold plasma and dried in sequence to obtain a treated roll-pressed sheet.

[0027] The present invention provides a method for processing roll-pressed thin sheets, specifically a method for processing roll-pressed thin sheets and improving the hot air drying rate thereof by using cold plasma (plasma is considered to be the fourth form of matter besides solid, liquid and gas. It is an ionized gaseous substance produced when atoms or molecules are ionized. It can be divided into high-temperature plasma and low-temperature plasma. When the electron temperature is much higher than the ion temperature and the system is in a non-thermal equilibrium state, the gas in the system is slightly ionized and the discharge temperature is close to room temperature. This is called cold plasma) technology. The method can solve the problems of long drying time, high energy consumption and serious loss of flavors and fragrances in the prior art.

[0028] The present invention first prepares raw materials: premixing powdery raw materials with fibers, and then uniformly mixing them with liquid raw materials to obtain mixed materials.

[0029] In the present invention, the powdery raw material is preferably composed of a matrix powder and an adhesive in a mass ratio of 100:(1-5), more preferably 100:3.

[0030] In the present invention, the matrix powder is preferably selected from one or more of tobacco powder or other non-tobacco plant-based powders such as rattan tea powder, black tea powder, lotus leaf powder, and corn cob powder, and more preferably tobacco powder, rattan tea powder, or lotus leaf powder. The present invention has no particular restrictions on the source of the matrix powder, and commercially available tobacco powder or non-tobacco matrix powders such as rattan tea powder and lotus leaf powder that are well known to those skilled in the art can be used.

[0031] In the present invention, the adhesive is preferably selected from one or more of sodium carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, and tamarind polysaccharide, and more preferably sodium carboxymethylcellulose. The present invention has no particular restrictions on the source of the adhesive, and commercially available products well known to those skilled in the art can be used.

[0032] In the present invention, the mass ratio of the powdery raw material to the fiber is preferably 103:(1-5), more preferably 103:(2-4).

[0033] In the present invention, the liquid raw material is preferably a mixed solution of water, an atomizer, a flavor and a nicotine salt; the atomizer is preferably selected from one or more of propylene glycol, glycerol and polyethylene glycol, more preferably propylene glycol and glycerol; the flavor is preferably selected from one of blueberry flavor, sweet orange flavor, mint flavor, coffee flavor, green tea flavor, pineapple flavor and grape flavor, more preferably blueberry flavor.

[0034] In the present invention, in the mixed solution of water, atomizer, flavor and nicotine salt, the mass ratio of water to atomizer is preferably (25-35): (25-35), the content of flavor is preferably 1‰-5‰, and the content of nicotine salt is preferably 0‰-5‰.

[0035] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the mixed solution of water, propylene glycol, glycerol and blueberry flavor, the mass ratio of water, propylene glycol and glycerol is preferably (25-35):10:(15-25), more preferably 30:10:20, and the content of blueberry flavor is preferably 1‰-5‰, more preferably 3‰; in the mixed solution of water, propylene glycol, glycerol, nicotine salt and blueberry flavor, the mass ratio of water, propylene glycol and glycerol is preferably (25-30):(15-20):(5-20), more preferably 28:(15-20):(10-15), the content of nicotine salt is preferably 1‰-5‰, more preferably 3‰, and the content of blueberry flavor is preferably 1‰-5‰, more preferably 3‰.

[0036] The present invention has no special restrictions on the sources of the raw materials such as propylene glycol, glycerol, nicotine salt and blueberry flavor, and commercially available products known to those skilled in the art can be used; the water is preferably deionized water.

[0037] In the present invention, the mass ratio of the liquid raw material to the powdered raw material is preferably (50-70):103, and more preferably (58-60):103.

[0038] After obtaining the mixed material, the present invention rolls the mixed material into shape, and then sequentially performs cold plasma treatment and drying to obtain a treated roll-pressed sheet.

[0039] In the present invention, the roll forming process preferably adopts a multi-stage roll pressing unit to roll to form a sheet with a certain thickness and density. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the multi-stage roll pressing unit is a five-stage roll pressing unit.

[0040] In the present invention, the cold plasma treatment preferably uses a cold plasma treatment device to etch the surface of the thin film using cold plasma to increase the moisture diffusion rate on the surface of the thin film; the cold plasma treatment device is preferably arranged on one side of the last roller press of the multi-stage roller press group; a plurality of cold plasma devices can be arranged between the last roller press and the subsequent oven inlet according to the distance, and the output power of the above-mentioned multiple cold plasma devices should be increased in sequence.

[0041] In the present invention, the device for cold plasma treatment is preferably a compact atmospheric pressure cold plasma jet (APPJ) generator, and the working gas is preferably air (considering its low cost and easy availability, and its ability to produce effective plasma); the object of cold plasma treatment is preferably the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer.

[0042] In the present invention, the output power of the cold plasma treatment (ie, the output power of the cold plasma generating device) is preferably 500W to 1000W, more preferably 800W to 1000W.

[0043] In the present invention, the cold plasma gas flow rate of the cold plasma treatment is preferably 100L / min to 500L / min, more preferably 300L / min to 400L / min, and is controlled by a fan frequency conversion control system provided in the cold plasma generating device.

[0044] In the present invention, the jet distance of the cold plasma treatment is preferably 10cm to 30cm, more preferably 20cm to 30cm; the cold plasma generating device sprays cold plasma up and down simultaneously, and the jet distance is the jet distance of the cold plasma from the sheet.

[0045] In the present invention, the cold plasma treatment time of the cold plasma treatment (the treatment time refers to the time from the thin sheet starting to enter the cold plasma device and being acted upon by the cold plasma jet to the thin sheet leaving the cold plasma device) is preferably not less than 30s, more preferably 30s to 40s; by controlling the roller press speed, the conveyor belt speed and the distance between the roller press and the conveyor belt, the time for which the thin sheet is acted upon by the cold plasma can be adjusted.

[0046] In the present invention, the drying method is preferably hot air drying, which can be achieved by using an oven, preferably a mesh belt oven; after drying, a roller-pressed sheet with an appropriate moisture content is obtained; the drying temperature is preferably 70°C to 100°C, more preferably 80°C to 90°C, and the moisture content after drying is preferably not higher than 10% (calculated by oven method).

[0047] Finally, the finished products are collected: the dried slices are cooled, cut and processed to obtain the final roll-pressed tobacco leaf slices for heat-not-burn cigarettes.

[0048] The present invention provides a method for processing a roll-pressed thin sheet, comprising the following steps: a) premixing a powdered raw material with fibers, and then uniformly mixing the powdered raw material with a liquid raw material to obtain a mixed material; b) rolling the mixed material obtained in step a) into shape, and then sequentially subjecting it to cold plasma treatment and drying to obtain a treated roll-pressed thin sheet. Compared with the prior art, the processing method provided by the present invention adopts specific process steps to achieve overall better interaction: the upper and lower surfaces of the roll-pressed thin sheet are treated with green, safe, and environmentally friendly cold plasma technology, and then hot air drying is performed, so that the upper and lower surfaces of the thin sheet are etched, the evaporation of surface moisture is accelerated, the surface moisture content is reduced, the moisture content gradient is increased, and the moisture diffusion rate is accelerated, thereby increasing the drying rate of the thin sheet and shortening the drying time; at the same time, due to the shortening of the drying time, the energy consumption is correspondingly reduced, and the production cost is reduced; and the processing method also reduces the loss of additives such as flavors and fragrances during the drying process, improves product quality, and reduces raw material costs.

[0049] In order to further illustrate the present invention, the following embodiments are used to explain it in detail. The working schematic diagram (front view) of the cold plasma device (mainly including an air pump, a filtration system, a cold plasma reaction chamber, a fan frequency conversion control system, and an upper and lower double-sided conveying system, etc.) used in the following embodiments of the present invention is shown in FIG. Figure 1 As shown, 1: roller press, 11: pressing roller, 2: roller pressed sheet, 36: pipeline, 37: conveying system, 38: cold plasma airflow, 4: conveyor belt; after the sheet (2) is pressed out by the last roller press (1), the upper and lower surfaces are treated by spraying cold plasma by a cold plasma device (3), and then conveyed to a mesh belt oven via a conveyor belt (4) for hot air drying.

[0050] Schematic diagram of cold plasma generation device (side view) see Figure 2 As shown, 2: roller pressed thin slice, 31: air pump, 32: filtering system, 33: high voltage power supply, 34: cold plasma reaction chamber, 35: fan frequency conversion control system, 36: pipeline, 37: conveying system, 38: cold plasma airflow, 39: base; gas is pumped into the filtering system (32) through the air pump (31), and after filtering, enters the reaction chamber (34) and is excited by an electric field or an electromagnetic field to generate cold plasma, which is then transported to the surface of the thin slice through the fan frequency conversion control system (35), the pipeline (36) and the conveying system (37); wherein the spacing between the upper and lower conveying systems (37) can be adjusted by a height adjustment valve (41) on a bracket (40) to achieve adjustment of the jet distance of the cold plasma to the thin slice.

[0051] Example 1

[0052] Prepare the flakes according to the following ratio:

[0053] Powdered raw materials: 100 parts by weight of tobacco powder, 3 parts by weight of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose; 2 parts by weight of additional fiber; liquid raw materials: 30 parts by weight of water, 10 parts by weight of propylene glycol, 20 parts by weight of glycerol, 3‰ of blueberry flavor. After the powdered raw materials are premixed with the fiber, they are evenly mixed with a solution containing an atomizer, an adhesive, water and other additives, and then enter the roller press to start five-stage roller pressing.

[0054] After five-stage roller pressing, the sheet is pulled onto a conveyor belt and laid flat, and cold plasma treatment begins.

[0055] The output power of the cold plasma device was set to 800 W, the cold plasma gas flow rate was set to 300 L / min, the jet distance was set to 20 cm, and the cold plasma treatment time was set to 30 s.

[0056] The slices enter the oven for hot air drying, and the hot air drying temperature is 90°C;

[0057] Finally, the finished products are collected: the dried slices are cooled, cut and processed to obtain the final roll-pressed tobacco leaf slices for heat-not-burn cigarettes.

[0058] Example 2

[0059] Prepare the flakes according to the following ratio:

[0060] Powdered raw materials: 100 parts by weight of rattan tea powder, 3 parts by weight of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose; 4 parts by weight of additional fiber; liquid raw materials: 28 parts by weight of water, 15 parts by weight of propylene glycol, 15 parts by weight of glycerol, 3‰ of nicotine salt, and 3‰ of blueberry flavor. After the powdered raw materials are premixed with the fiber, they are evenly mixed with a solution containing an atomizer, an adhesive, water and other additives, and then enter the roller press to start five-stage roller pressing.

[0061] After five-stage roller pressing, the sheet is pulled onto a conveyor belt and laid flat, and cold plasma treatment begins.

[0062] The output power of the cold plasma device was set to 900 W, the cold plasma gas flow rate to 300 L / min, the jet distance to 30 cm, and the cold plasma treatment time to 40 s.

[0063] The slices enter the oven for hot air drying, and the hot air drying temperature is 90°C;

[0064] Finally, the finished products are collected: the dried slices are cooled, cut and processed to obtain the final roll-pressed tobacco leaf slices for heat-not-burn cigarettes.

[0065] Example 3

[0066] Prepare the flakes according to the following ratio:

[0067] Powdered raw materials: 100 parts by weight of lotus leaf powder, 3 parts by weight of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose; 4 parts by weight of additional fiber; liquid raw materials: 28 parts by weight of water, 20 parts by weight of propylene glycol, 10 parts by weight of glycerol, 3‰ of nicotine salt, and 3‰ of blueberry flavor. After the powdered raw materials are premixed with the fiber, they are evenly mixed with a solution containing an atomizer, an adhesive, water and other additives, and then enter the roller press to start five-stage roller pressing.

[0068] After five-stage roller pressing, the sheet is pulled onto a conveyor belt and laid flat, and cold plasma treatment begins.

[0069] The output power of the cold plasma device was set to 1000 W, the cold plasma gas flow rate was set to 400 L / min, the jet distance was set to 30 cm, and the cold plasma treatment time was set to 40 s.

[0070] The slices enter the oven for hot air drying, and the hot air drying temperature is 80°C;

[0071] Finally, the finished products are collected: the dried slices are cooled, cut and processed to obtain the final roll-pressed tobacco leaf slices for heat-not-burn cigarettes.

[0072] Comparative Example

[0073] Prepare the flakes according to the following ratio:

[0074] Powdered raw materials: 100 parts by weight of tobacco powder, 3 parts by weight of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose; 2 parts by weight of additional fiber; liquid raw materials: 30 parts by weight of water, 10 parts by weight of propylene glycol, 20 parts by weight of glycerol, 3‰ of blueberry flavor. After the powdered raw materials are premixed with the fiber, they are evenly mixed with a solution containing an atomizer, an adhesive, water and other additives, and then enter the roller press to start five-stage roller pressing.

[0075] The slices were not treated by the cold plasma device and entered the oven for hot air drying at a temperature of 90°C;

[0076] Finally, the finished products are collected: the dried slices are cooled, cut and processed to obtain the final roll-pressed tobacco leaf slices for heat-not-burn cigarettes.

[0077] The moisture value measured by the oven method is used as the standard. The length of the mesh belt oven is fixed. The drying time of the slice is controlled by controlling the speed. The drying time of the slice is from the beginning of drying to the time when the slice reaches the target moisture value (not higher than 10%). The drying time of the comparative example and the three embodiments is shown in Table 1 below.

[0078] Table 1

[0079]

[0080] By comparison, cold plasma treatment can significantly reduce the drying time of roller-pressed slices, and as the power of the cold plasma device increases, the flow rate increases, and the treatment time increases, the improvement in the drying rate of the slices is more significant.

[0081] The tobacco sheets prepared in Examples 1 to 3 and the tobacco sheets prepared in the comparative example using conventional technology were used to determine the remaining amount of aroma components by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, with vanillin being used as the characteristic marker of the added blueberry flavor. The comparison results are shown in Table 2 below.

[0082] Table 2

[0083]

[0084] Although the amount of flavors and fragrances added to the slices is relatively low, their cost accounts for a large proportion of the production cost of the slices, and flavors and fragrances are very easy to volatilize when heated. In the traditional slice production process, in order to make the amount of flavors and fragrances retained in the finished slices meet the sensory requirements when smoking heated cigarettes, the method of increasing the input amount of flavors and fragrances is often adopted, which increases the production cost. By comparison, in different embodiments, after cold plasma treatment, as the duration of hot air drying in the oven is reduced, the amount of flavors added to the slices is reduced, the retention rate is increased, and the flavoring efficiency is improved.

[0085] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but rather to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for processing roll-pressed sheets, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: a) premixing the powdered raw material with the fiber and then mixing the mixture with the liquid raw material to obtain a mixed material; b) The mixed material obtained in step a) is roll-formed, and then treated with cold plasma and dried in sequence to obtain a treated roll-pressed sheet.

2. The method for processing roll-pressed sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The powdery raw material in step a) is composed of a matrix powder and an adhesive in a mass ratio of 100:(1-5); The matrix powder is selected from one or more of tobacco powder or other non-tobacco plant-based powders such as rattan tea powder, black tea powder, lotus leaf powder, and corn cob powder; the adhesive is selected from one or more of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, and tamarind polysaccharide.

3. The method for processing roll-pressed sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mass ratio of the powdery raw material to the fiber in step a) is 103:(1-5).

4. The method for processing roll-pressed sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The liquid raw material in step a) is a mixed solution of water, atomizer, flavor and nicotine salt; The atomizer is selected from one or more of propylene glycol, glycerol, and polyethylene glycol; the flavor is selected from one of blueberry flavor, sweet orange flavor, mint flavor, coffee flavor, green tea flavor, pineapple flavor, and grape flavor; The mass ratio of the liquid raw material to the powdered raw material is (50-70):

103.

5. The method for processing roll-pressed sheets according to claim 4, characterized in that: In the mixed solution of water, atomizer, flavor and nicotine salt, the mass ratio of water to atomizer is (25-35): (25-35), the content of flavor is 1‰-5‰, and the content of nicotine salt is 0‰-5‰.

6. The method for processing roll-pressed sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The roll forming process in step b) is performed by using a multi-stage roll pressing unit.

7. The method for processing roll-pressed sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The device for cold plasma treatment in step b) is a compact atmospheric pressure cold plasma jet generator, and the working gas is air.

8. The method for processing roll-pressed sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The objects of the cold plasma treatment in step b) are the upper and lower surfaces of the slice.

9. The method for processing roll-pressed sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The output power of the cold plasma treatment in step b) is 500W to 1000W, the flow rate of the cold plasma gas flow is 100L / min to 500L / min, the jet distance is 10cm to 30cm, and the cold plasma treatment time is not less than 30s.

10. The method for processing roll-pressed sheets according to claim 1, characterized in that: The drying temperature in step b) is 70° C. to 100° C., and the moisture content after drying is not higher than 10%.

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