New in Borgwaldt KC’s portfolio - Diffusivity Tester
21.10.2009
The determination of air permeability was for decades one of the most important quality control parameters regarding cigarette, plug wrap and tipping paper. Also the air permeability properties of papers have been used to fine tune design of a cigarette.
The diffusivity of gas through the paper nowadays become more and more important and has turned into a vital parameter the industry likes to check. This is of particular importance for so called LIP or RIP papers.
Borgwaldt KC just recently finalized development of our new Diffusivity Tester. The measuring principle is based on the diffusivity of two gases (N2 and CO2) through the cigarette paper. While the diffusion of N2 in Co2 is guided to the exhaust the volume of CO2 diffusion into N2 is analysed with a standard CO2 Analyser.
Utmost attention has been paid during development to achieve a simple, fast and operator friendly calibration of the instrument. Diffusivity is very sensitive to environmental pressure. Taking this into account, Borgwaldt KC decided to equip the Diffusivity Tester with a non pressurised system. Therefore, the two gases are passed not directly from the gas tanks to the division chamber, but are stored temporarily in gas collecting bags. From there the gas flow through the division cell is controlled by two high precision syringes.
The measuring head the paper is placed in for the diffusivity test is based on the well known A10 and A20 head design. Minor changes have been done to make this head suitable for diffusivity testing. The major benefit of this head is its good accessibility. This is very important as the precise positioning of the paper sample in the measuring head is vital for reliable diffusivity tests. A paper tractor is also available for the Diffusivity Tester in order to support a fully automatic measurement sequence.
The same standardised CO2-Analyser like in Borgwaldt KC’s smoking machines is finally used to determine the CO2 content in Nitrogen as a measure for the diffusivity potential of a paper.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Borgwaldt KC for more information about the Diffusivity Tester. The first instruments will be available on the market within first Quarter of 2010.
We appreciate your interest in the this new instrument and look forward to hearing from you!