Cigarette tow

Fig. 11. World production of cellulose acetate and triacetate fibers I, cigarette tow B, textile (74).

Cellulose acetate monofilament, yarn, staple, or tow Cellulose fibers, manmade Cigarette tow, cellulosic fiber Cuprammonium fibers Fibers, rayon Horeshair, artificial rayon Nitrocellulose fibers Rayon primary products fibers, straw, strips, and yarn... 

Data and does not include cigarette tow production ( ). bl981 Data (3). 

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). 

Cellulose acetate (CA) has been known, and industrially employed for decades as films, fibers, filters, membranes, tubes, and utensils, as well as other consumer products, including eyewear, fashion accessories, pens, brushes, toys, among others [13]. The market for Filter Tow, which is made from crimped, endless CA filaments, has seen a tremendous growth in the cigarette market, reaching more than 600 thousand metric tons in 2003 [14]. Additionally, cellulose mono-acetates have several potential applications, because they can be made into either water absorbent, or water-soluble polymers [15]. 

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

The principal textile applications of hoth acetate and triacetate libels are in women s apparel and home-furnishing fabrics. Allhough the use ot acetate fiber for textile applications has generally declined, the total worldwide production tif cellulose acelate increased owing to tow lor cigarette filters. 

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. 

Yarn and monofilament only staple plus tow included under other. c Does not include fiber produced for cigarette filtration purposes. d Includes saran and Spandex yarn also, olefin and vinyon staple and tow. 

Acetate Tow A yellowish powder that is a byproduct of paper bleaching, used for cigarette filters and medical gauze. 

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]. 

Tow properties are influenced by the shape of the filament cross section, dpf, and total denier, and the crimp imparted to the tow. The tow properties in turn control the properties of the cigarette filter. Important filter properties of weight, firmness, pressure drop, smoke-removal efficiency and cost are controlled by the fiber and tow properties [15,85,86]. 

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. 

Acetate fibres are used mainly for the production of cigarette filters with a global production volume of filter tow of 740 000 tonnes in 2009, which is an increase of 170 000 tonnes since the year 2000 [52]. Textile acetate yarns experienced a 30% decline to 42 000 tonnes in 2009 [52]. Main applications for the later are women s linings, woven fashion, woven satins, circular knits, men s linings, tricot knits, woven velvets, home furnishings, coffin linings, medical and ribbons [43]. 

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