Cellulose acetate tow and method of making same

Abstract

A fiber finish, particularly for cellulose acetate tow, is an emulsion of 62.0 to 65.0 weight percent mineral oil, 27.0 to 28.0 weight percent emulsifiers, and the balance being water. The emulsifiers are a mixture of 50.0 to 520. weight percent sorbitan monolaurate and 48.0 to 50.0 weight percent POE (20) sorbitan monolaurate. The finish has an add-on weight of 3 to 8 weight percent of the total weight of the tow.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention is directed to cellulose acetate tow and a method of making the same. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Cellulose acetate tow producers market uniform pressure drop (PD) to cigarette filter producers. Tow, however, is sold by weight. The relationship between PD and weight is referred to as yield (PD / weight). Yield is often illustrated by a line on a graph where the x-axis is the weight and the y-axis is the PD. The lowermost end of the yield line is defined as the point at which the rod develops recessed ends and the uppermost end of the yield line is defined as the point at which the rod splits or machine roll wraps occur because of too much tow. Browne, C. L., The Design of Cigarettes, Hoechst Celanese Corporation, 1990, page 66. [0003] The cigarette filter is a very complex device and many factors effect its production and performance. As with all complex devices, these factors are often interrelated, so that changes in one fac...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] WIPO Publication No. WO 02-087366 illustrates that increasing

Problems solved by technology

The cigarette filter is a very complex device and many factors effect its production and performance.

As with all complex devices, these factors are often interrelated, so that changes in one factor have effects on other factors.

Fly, also called “lint”, a tow quality, is not often quantified, but is readily apparent to the filter producer while removing tow from the bale or on the rod-making machine, and can be a significant source of defective filter rods (lumps of fiber, wormholes) as well as a cause for more frequent cleaning the opening and rodmaking machinery.

With the current state-of-the-art, such a product is not available.

Moreover, the route to producing this product is not clear due to the complexities associated with the production of cigarette filters and cigarette filter tow.

One skilled in the art recognizes that influencing

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