Treated tobacco and processes for preparing the same, devices including the same and uses thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10588340-B2
Application number	US-201414912400-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 20, 2014
Priority date	Aug 21, 2013
Publication date	Mar 17, 2020
Grant date	Mar 17, 2020

Abstract

Embodiments provides treated tobacco material having a pH of at least 9 and a moisture content of no more than 20% based on the dry weight of the tobacco. Embodiments also provide a process for treating tobacco material to increase its pH to at least 9, the process comprising applying a basic solution to the tobacco material to be treated, and drying the material to produce a treated tobacco material with a moisture content of no more than 20%. Embodiments also provide devices comprising the treated tobacco material, and uses of the treated tobacco material.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A process for treating tobacco material to increase its pH to at least 9, the process comprising:
applying a basic liquid solution to a solid tobacco material to be treated;
removing ammonia from the solid tobacco material with added basic liquid solution; and
drying the solid tobacco material to produce a treated tobacco material with a moisture content of no more than about 20 weight % based upon the dry weight of the tobacco, the drying being carried out at from about 20° C. to about 85° C.

2. A process according to claim 1 , wherein the removal of ammonia and the drying of the solid tobacco material are carried out simultaneously or consecutively.

3. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the process comprises reducing the particle size of the solid tobacco material to from about 1 to about 3 mm.

4. A process as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the particle size of the solid tobacco material is reduced before applying the basic liquid solution to the solid tobacco material.

5. A process as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the solid tobacco material is sliced prior to the application of the basic liquid solution, and the particle size of the solid tobacco material is further reduced to a size of from about 1 to about 3 mm following application of the basic liquid solution.

6. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the basic liquid solution comprises a base selected from the group consisting of: sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide and sodium phosphate.

7. A process as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the basic liquid solution comprises sodium hydroxide.

8. A process as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the sodium hydroxide solution has a concentration in the range of from about 3.0 to about 9.0 mol/L.

9. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the treated tobacco material is dried to have a moisture content of from about 5 to about 20% based on the dry weight of the solid tobacco material.

10. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the solid tobacco material is not heated to a temperature above about 65° C. during the treatment process.

11. A process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the solid tobacco material is mixed or agitated during or after application of the basic liquid solution.

12. A process as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the process comprises reducing the particle size of the solid tobacco material to from about 1 to about 2 mm.

13. A process as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the particle size of the solid tobacco material is further reduced to a size of from about 1 to about 2 mm following application of the basic liquid solution.

14. A process as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the treated solid tobacco material is dried to have a moisture content of from about 8 to about 18% based on the dry weight of the solid tobacco material.

15. A process as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the drying is carried out from about 20° C. to about 60° C. during the treatment process.

Assignees

• British American Tobacco Investments Ltd

Inventors

• Bell Sally
• Forster Mark
• Phillips Jeremy

Classifications

• A24B15/287 Primary

  by inorganic substances only · CPC title

• A24F40/20

  Devices using solid inhalable precursors · CPC title

• A24B15/16

  of tobacco substitutes · CPC title

• A24F47/004

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A24B15/28 Primary

  by chemical substances · CPC title