Japan Tobacco Inc.

Hiromi Uematsu

Manabu Takeuchi

Takashi Ogawa

Koji Sakamoto

Satoshi Taguchi

Kensuke Uchiyama

Yukio Nakanishi

Kazuo Yoshimoto

Toshio Takahashi

Katsuhiko Kan

Makoto Sendo

Tomohiko Yoshioka

Masao Kobari

Toshio Iden

Masanori Wakui

Naohiro Tokitsu

Keiji Yamamichi

Kazuyuki Tsuchizawa

An apparatus for producing a flavor for expanded tobacco material has an extraction vessel () for bringing supercritical carbon dioxide into contact with tobacco material (A) to dissolve tobacco components in the carbon dioxide; a separation vessel () connected to the extraction vessel (), for separating fat-soluble ingredients of the tobacco components from the tobacco components dissolved in the carbon dioxide to retrieve the fat-soluble ingredients; and a circulation path for circulating the supercritical carbon dioxide between the extraction vessel () and the absorption vessel () storing purified water while purifying the carbon dioxide by the purification layer () made of activated carbon, and absorbing water-soluble ingredients of the tobacco components in purified water; and a retrieval vessel () for retrieving the purified water, in which the water-soluble ingredients of the tobacco components are absorbed, from the absorption vessel () as absorption water. The fat-soluble ingredients of the tobacco components and the absorption water are used to produce first and second flavor elements as flavor.

Apparatus for producing a flavor for expanded tobacco material

Swollen tobacco material manufacturing method

Steam or high-temperature gas containing steam flows through a gas-flow drying pipe. Tobacco is fed from a feed port into the high-temperature gas flowing through the gas-flow drying pipe, and heated and expanded while it flows together with the gas. Steam or water is injected into the high-temperature gas flow from injection nozzles at the positions downstream from the feed port to change the gas temperature. Thereby, the heat quantity given to the tobacco from the high-temperature gas is controlled to prevent the tobacco quality from degrading.

Method and system for expanding tobacco

An expanding apparatus supplies an expanding agent to an impregnating vessel, and continuously supplies and discharges a material, e.g., a tobacco material to and from the impregnating vessel through a valve while pressure-increasing or pressure-decreasing the material, thereby continuously expanding the material. The expanding agent supplied to the impregnating vessel, the valve, and the like is recovered and, air, an impurity gas, or the like mixed in it is removed. Thereafter the expanding agent is pressure-increased to a high pressure and supplied to the impregnating vessel and the valve again.

Expanding apparatus for agricultural product or the like

An expanding apparatus continuously expands a material, e.g., a tobacco material and supplies gaseous carbon dioxide as an expanding agent to an impregnating vessel by an expanding agent supply to maintain a predetermined impregnating pressure. The material is continuously supplied to the impregnating vessel by a material supply while increasing the pressure of the material. The material is continuously discharged from the impregnating vessel by a material discharge while decreasing the pressure of the material. The expanding agent supply has a heat exchanger to perform heat exchange between carbon dioxide to be supplied to the impregnating vessel and a coolant, thereby cooling carbon dioxide. The state of carbon dioxide to be supplied to the impregnating vessel is controlled in accordance with the temperature or the like of the tobacco material discharged from the impregnating vessel, so that carbon dioxide is effectively impregnated and no dry ice is formed in the material discharge or the like.

Expanding apparatus for agricultural product such as tobacco material

Apparatus for expanding material of an agricultural origin

Growing community of inventors

Hiratsuka, Japan

Hiromi Uematsu