Method and plant for processing reconstituted tobacco

Abstract

A method for producing reconstituted tobacco includes:grinding the solid components of tobacco to a particle size of about 20-220 μm,mixing the ground product with powdered cellulose, water, at least one binding agent and at least one material to form an aerosol until a slurry with a liquid content of about 30-50% is obtained,subjecting the slurry is subjected to a first lamination to obtain a continuous strip with a thickness of about 1-20 mm,subjecting the strip, already subjected to said first lamination, to a series of further lamination steps, until a strip having considerably constant thickness of about 90-280 μm,drying the strip until its liquid content is brought to about 8-15%.

1 . Method for producing reconstituted tobacco comprising:
 grinding solid components of tobacco to a particle size of about 20-220 μm,   mixing the ground product thus obtained with powdered cellulose, water, at least one binding agent and at least one material to form an aerosol until a slurry with a liquid content of about 30-50%,   subjecting said slurry is subjected to a first lamination to obtain a continuous strip with a thickness of about 1-20 mm,   subjecting the strip already subjected to said first lamination is subjected to a series of further lamination steps, until a strip having considerably constant thickness of about 90-280 μm, is obtained, and   drying said strip is dried until a liquid content thereof is brought to about 8-15%.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the dried continuous strip is subjected to winding or shredding into threads of predefined dimensions. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the solid components are ground tobacco by grinding. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the solid components of the tobacco are ground with a mill. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the solid components is tobacco ground with a cryogenic pin mill ( 20 ). 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein powdered cellulose consisting of an organic fiber obtained from natural cellulose is used. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said slurry is formed with powdered cellulose having a particle size between 50 and 100 μm. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said mixture is formed with powdered cellulose in a percentage comprised between 2% and 10% of the weight of the tobacco. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein ground cloves are added to the mixture. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the ground tobacco components are mixed with powdered cellulose before forming said mixture with them therewith. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the mixture formed by ground product, powdered cellulose, water, at least one binding agent and at least one material for forming an aerosol is subjected:
 to a roughing step for passage through at least one pair of grooved cylinders ( 92 ) and/or   to a refining step by passage through at least one pair of refining cylinders ( 132 , 132 ′) until it reaches a particle size not exceeding 20 μm.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said mixture is subjected to at least one of a homogenization or molding step before subjecting the mixture to said first rolling step. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising subjecting said mixture is subjected to at least one of a homogenization or shaping phase for transformation into a continuous strip, with a substantially constant width between 100 and 2000 mm and thickness between 1 and 10 mm, to be then subjected to said first lamination step. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said mixture is subjected to at least one of a homogenization or molding step for transformation into a sequence of portions ( 97 ) to be then subjected to said first lamination step. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising carrying out said first rolling the mixture with a unit ( 100 ) comprising a feeder lobe ( 102 ) and at least one pair of rolling cylinders ( 108 ). 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said first lamination comprises a homogenization step which is carried out before obtaining said continuous strip having a thickness of about 1-20 mm. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said mixture is subjected in sequence first to a forming step for transformation into a sequence of portions ( 97 ) and subsequently to a homogenizing step of said portions ( 97 ) before obtaining from the portions said continuous strip having a thickness of about 1-20 mm. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said mixture is homogenized predominantly or exclusively by means of a feeder lobes ( 102 ) positioned at an input of at least one pair of rolling cylinders ( 108 ). 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein a monolayer tape with a thickness of about 1-10 mm is obtained at an outlet of said first lamination. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein before said series of further lamination steps, said strip, already subjected to said first lamination, is subjected to stratification until a multilayer strip with a thickness of about 2-20 mm is obtained. 
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein in said series of further rolling passes, the method further comprises a rest between a laminating station and the next. 
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the lamination is carried out with pairs of cylinders ( 118 ) at least partially heated. 
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising drying said laminated ribbon for passage through a drying air recirculation system ( 122 ). 
     
     
         24 - 44 . (canceled) 
     
     
         45 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said at least one binding agent includes at least one of: hydroxypropylcellulose, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, hydroxyethylcellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), corn starch, potato starch, guar gum, locust bean gum, pectin and alginates, ammonium alginate or sodium alginate