Porous Aerosol-Cooling Elements for Heat-Not-Burn Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Heat-not-burn apparatus face challenges in effectively cooling volatilized smokable material due to its proximity to the mouth and lack of sufficient cooling during passage, as conventional cigarettes do not require significant cooling.
Innovation Solution
The use of an aerosol-cooling element with through holes, formed from materials like ceramic or polymer, that allows heat conduction and cooling of volatilized material through radial and central walls, achieving a porosity of 60-75% to enhance cooling efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If conventional cigarette design is used, then cooling is not required, but heat-not-burn apparatus cannot effectively cool volatilized material due to proximity to mouth
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a porous cooling element with controlled porosity (60-75%) to enable effective heat dissipation. The porous structure provides large surface area for heat exchange while maintaining mechanical integrity, allowing the volatilized material to be cooled efficiently as it passes through the element without requiring complex active cooling systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling element is divided into multiple through-holes extending through the rod structure, creating segmented flow paths. This segmentation increases the surface area for heat exchange and distributes the flow evenly, improving cooling efficiency while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
2Temperature
If porosity is increased to enhance cooling, then cooling efficiency improves, but structural strength may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the porosity parameter to a specific range (60-75%) that balances cooling efficiency and structural strength. This parameter optimization ensures sufficient open space for heat exchange while maintaining adequate material density to support the element's mechanical requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling element may be formed from composite materials or materials with specific microstructural properties that provide both porosity and strength. The use of materials like ceramics or specially formulated polymers allows the element to maintain structural integrity while achieving the required porosity for effective cooling.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The aerosol-cooling element effectively cools volatilized smokable material, ensuring it reaches the user at a safer temperature without significant filtering, addressing the cooling inadequacies of heat-not-burn devices.
Implementation Method 1
allows heat conduction and cooling of volatilized material through radial and central walls
Implementation Method 2
The porosity of the element is in the range 60% to 75%. The porosity in this sense is a measure of the percentage of the lateral cross-sectional area of the element occupied by the through holes
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~8
AI summary
Aerosol-cooling elements for use with an apparatus for heating smokable material are disclosed. In one example, the element (10) is a monolithic rod having first and second ends (13,14)and has plural through holes (15) extending between the first and second ends (13,14).Other arrangements are described.