Cigarette filter tows

Most of the acetic acid is produced in the United States, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, France, Canada, and Mexico. Total annual production in these countries is close to four million tons. Uses include the manufacture of vinyl acetate [108-05-4] and acetic anhydride [108-24-7]. Vinyl acetate is used to make latex emulsion resins for paints, adhesives, paper coatings, and textile finishing agents. Acetic anhydride is used in making cellulose acetate fibers, cigarette filter tow, and ceUulosic plastics. 

Table 3. World Production of Cellulose Acetate Cigarette Filter Tow, 10 t...

Fig. 12. Cellulose acetate cigarette filter tow (a) as supplied and (b) "opened" for cigarette-filter rod preparation.

Fig. 14. Section of cellulose acetate cigarette filter tow showing crimp configuration.

From 1980 to 1988, aimual cellulose acetate flake production in the United States showed a slight decrease in production from 392,000 t to 323,000 t with an aimual decline of —0.4 to —0.1% (Table 6). World demand for cellulose acetate flake has also fallen. A modest recovery has occurred in recent years as a result of the increased demand for cigarette-filter tow world consumption of cigarette-filter tow has risen about 2.5% per year since 1980 (Tables 7 and 8). In contrast, world demand for textile fibers and cellulose ester plastics decline 4.6% and 4.2% per year, respectively (Fig. 9). 

Year Cigarette-filter tow Textile fibers Cellulose acetate plastics Total... 

Year Textile fibers Cigarette-filter tow Plastics Total... 

Data for textile fibers and cigarette-filter tow include Eastern Europe and the People s Republic of China. 

Demand for cellulose acetate flake in the United States is projected to decline slightly from 1988 to 1993. Cigarette-filter tow for export is the only market projected to grow. Cellulose acetate for textile fibers is expected to decline, as will flake demand for plastics, with the growth of photographic films somewhat offsetting declining markets in other plastics end uses. 

Cellulose ester flake production for nonfiber appHcations represents a small part of the total U.S. output. Cigarette-filter tow and cellulose acetate textile fibers consume more than 80% of flake production (104). 

Cl food orange 5 Cl FoodRed 17 Cigarette filters Cigarette filter tow... 

Cellulose acetates are by far the most important organic esters. The diacetate has DS = 2.4 and is fabricated either in filament form for fibres or in powder form to melt. Diacetate filaments are obtained by dissolution in acetone, extrusion through a spin and then evaporation of the solvent. The obtained fibres are used in textiles (called simply acetate ) and in cigarette filters (tow). The triacetate (DS = 2.9) finds application in brilliant textiles easy to dye. 

Acetic Anhydride. Cellulose acetate derived from acetic anhydride is used to make cigarette filter tow. Demand has begun to decline and is expected to continue this downward trend. It is also used by Eastman Chemical as an intermediate to make photographic film base, Tenite cellulose plastics, textile chemicals, and coating chemicals [13]. 

All three have their importance in the field of plastic materials, whereas CA is by far the most widely produced derivative (expected to reach 980 000 metric tons by 2015 - see http //www. prweb.eom/releases/cellulose acetate/flake plastics filter tow/prweb8067438.htm, accessed 21 June 2013) mainly used for cigarette filter tow, which is, however, not melt spun but produced by dry spinning in acetone. Since synthesis methods for CA and the mixed esters mentioned basically differ only in the starting materials (acid and acid anhydrides), only the CA process is described briefly in the following section. 

By far the greatest use of secondary cellulose acetate is as cigarette filter tow. At a D.S. of ca. 2.4 the cellulose acetate is soluble in acetone and the resulting solution in spun into fibers using solution spinning. The removal and recovery of the acetone is the most expensive aspect of the spin process. An aligned tube of these fibers is the actual "filter" on a cigarette. 

The greatest use of acetic anhydride is in esterifying cellulose to cellulose acetate for application as cigarette filter tow and in textiles. In the United States, acetic anhydride is manufactured by cellulose acetate manufacturers and largely used internally. Other products using acetic anhydride as a raw material are mostly mature with low growth rates they include triacetin, plastic modifiers and intermediates for pharmaceuticals, herbicides, pesticides, and dyes for polyolefins. Growth in production was projected to be 2.1 percent/year in the United States and less in Western Europe and Japan from 1988 to 1995. 

Fiber production starts from an acetone solution of secondary acetate (20-30%), which is filtered and pressed through spinnerets with up to 100 holes. For cigarette filter tow manufacturing 1000 holes... 

For cigarette filter tows, secondary acetate fibers are used (1987 400000 mt) (->tobacco industry). Triacetate for photographic films is substituted by polyester. Secondary acetate and mixed esters are used in molded goods, - coatings and films (1987 98000mt). 

Cigarette filter tows are made from cellulose acetate (secondary), which is plasticized by - glyceryl triacetate... 

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