Tobacco Asia

Volume 19, Number 3

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44 tobaccoasia MANUFACTURING NEWS 制造新闻 New Additions to Decouflé's Nano Family Decouflé's Nano cigarette maker is the core element in a steadily growing group of products. The company is now developing faster Nano-based makers and new applications, expanding its portfo- lio with a view to maximizing customer satisfaction. Ever since Decouflé sold its very first machine 150 years ago, the French company has continued to build a wide reputation as a manufacturer of specialized niche products. Nano first appeared on the market in 2009. Decouflé's new filter cigarette maker was readily accepted by the market, chalking up high sales figures from the outset. Since then, these have continued to rise, bringing the line far beyond the niche product category. Nano makers, which are designed to run at speeds ranging from 5,000-7,200 cigarettes per minute (cpm), are so dependable that Decouflé decided to use them as a basis for developing a wider range in response to customers' requirements. Nano-8, for instance, was designed to operate at speeds up to 8,200 cpm, creating a perfect match for a 400 pack per minute (ppm) packer. This cost-effective machine is ideal not only for manufacturing smaller batches but also for running in a 3-shift schedule. Apart from combining all the elements of a high-speed maker, it also features its predecessor's compatibility with all Hauni and Decouflé units including laser and logistics items. Yet there is an even faster model already in the pipeline: Nano-10, the latest member of the Nano series, is scheduled to make its debut on the market soon and will be capable of speeds up to 10,000 cpm. Speed, however, is not the only factor driving the growth of the Nano family. The Nano-C for example is a special maker for cigar production. New applications currently under development include Nano-T for filter tube production and Nano-P for plain cigarettes. These units will join the Nano family, complementing the Decouflé portfolio. Nano series machines all feature the tried-and-trusted technology which can be depended on to produce top quality, whatever the format or product – from king and queen size, slims and super-slims to plain cigarettes, kreteks, cigars and filter tubes. Nicholas Müllem, managing director, knows why the Nano family is so successful: "The Nano is such a dependable line that it makes an ideal platform for creating a whole family. We plan to continue using it as a ba- sis for future developments." Decoufle's Nano Family ETC is expected to have a ground- breaking ceremony marking the com- mencement of the company in the country Friday at Kanengo industrial area in Lilongwe. S.Korea Cig Butts as Fuel It is estimated that 840,000 tons of cigarette butts wind up as toxic trash worldwide every year, and with 9 trillion filtered cigarettes expected to be consumed worldwide by 2025, the global environmental burden of cigarette filters is significant. However, a research team from Seoul National University in South Korea has developed a way to turn cigarette butts into energy storage devices that outper- form commercially available ones. The scientists transformed the cellulose acetate fibers in cigarette filters into a carbon-based energy storage material using a simple, one-step burning technique called pyrolysis. The carbon-based material was tested to see how well it could adsorb electro- lyte ions and then release them. The material stored more electrical energy than commercially available carbon, graphene and nanotube capacitors. The scientists reported their findings in the IOP Publishing journal Nanotech- nology. They say the high performing material can be integrated into comput- ers, handheld devices, electric vehicles, and wind turbines to store energy. "A high performing supercapacitor material should have a large surface area, which can be achieved by incorporating a large number of small pores into the material," says Professor Yi. "A combi- nation of different pore sizes ensures that the material has high power densities, which is an essential property in a supercapacitor." "Numerous countries are developing strict regulations to avoid the trillions of toxic and non-biodegradable used cigarette filters that are disposed of into the environment each year. Our method is just one way of achieving this," says co-author Professor Jongheop Yi of Seoul National University. A supercapacitor has many advan- tages over a battery. It can be charged and discharged virtually an unlimited number of times. Unlike the electro- chemical battery, which has a defined life cycle, there is little wear and tear by cycling a supercapacitor. Unlike in a battery, age does not affect the device. Supercapacitors today mostly use carbon due to its low cost, high surface area, high electrical conductivity and long-term stability. Scientists are working to improve energy density, power density and cycle stability of capacitors while trying to reduce production costs.

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