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Ultra-fine particle catalysts for carbonaceous fuel elementsRelated Patent Categories: Tobacco, Smoke Separator Or Treater, By Chemical Reaction, E.g., Ion-exchange, Chelating, Catalytic, Etc.Ultra-fine particle catalysts for carbonaceous fuel elements description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20050274390, Ultra-fine particle catalysts for carbonaceous fuel elements. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates generally to fuel elements for smoking articles, and more particularly to fuel elements comprising a carbonaceous material and ultrafine particles. In an embodiment, the fuel elements may be utilized in smoking articles to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide in the mainstream smoke and improve the thermal efficiency of the fuel. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Cigarettes are popular smoking articles that use tobacco in various forms. Descriptions of cigarettes and the various components thereof are set forth in Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology, Davis et al. (Eds.) (1999). [0003] Cigarettes generally include a substantially cylindrical rod-shaped structure and include a charge, roll or column of smokeable material such as shredded tobacco (e.g., in cut filler form) surrounded by a paper wrapper thereby forming a so-called "tobacco rod." Normally, a cigarette has a cylindrical filter element aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, a filter element includes cellulose acetate tow circumscribed by plug wrap, and is attached to the tobacco rod using a circumscribing tipping material. It also has become desirable to perforate the tipping material and plug wrap, in order to provide dilution of drawn mainstream smoke with ambient air. [0004] Carbonaceous materials can be employed as components of combustible material components in a smoking article that are designed to burn and provide heat to aerosolize physically separate aerosol-forming materials. Cigarettes having carbonaceous combustible material components have been marketed by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company under the tradenames Premier and Eclipse. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,151 to Shelar et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,654 to Bernasek et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,596 to Lawrence et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,802 to White et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,365 to Sensabaugh et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,438 to Korte; U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,606 to Serrano et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,548 to Farrier et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,297 to Farrier et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,821 to Best et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,167 to Riggs et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,062 to Clearman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,955 to Clearman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,451 to Riggs et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,577 to Bensalem et al. The disclosure of each of these patents is incorporated herein by reference. See, also, Chemical and Biological Studies on New Cigarette Prototypes that Heat Instead of Burn Tobacco, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Monograph (1988). [0005] It also has been suggested to incorporate non-combustible materials into the carbonaceous combustible material components of certain types of smoking articles. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,551 to Schlatter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,684 to Shannon et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,014 to Deevi et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,340 to Augustine et al. The disclosure of each of these patents is incorporated herein by reference. [0006] It would be desirable to provide a fuel element for a smoking article that reduces the amount of carbon monoxide present in the aerosol of the smoking article. It would additionally be desirable to provide a fuel element that displays a more efficient combustion. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] The present invention provides fuel elements comprising ultrafine particles. In an embodiment of the present invention, the ultrafine particles catalyze the conversion of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide, thereby reducing the amount of carbon monoxide present in the combustion gases produced by burning of the fuel element. In a smoking article embodiment, a fuel element comprising ultrafine particles reduces the amount of carbon monoxide present in the aerosol and demonstrates a more efficient combustion by producing more energy per gram of fuel combusted. [0008] The present invention also provides methods for altering the performance characteristics of smoking articles to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide present in aerosol produced by the smoking article. [0009] In one aspect, the present invention provides a fuel element comprising a carbonaceous material and at least one catalyst composition, the catalyst composition comprising ultrafine particles. [0010] In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for reducing the amount of carbon monoxide produced by an article comprising a fuel element, the method comprising incorporating ultrafine particles in the fuel element. [0011] In a further aspect, the present invention provides a smoking article having reduced amounts of carbon monoxide in the aerosol produced by the smoking article. In an embodiment, the smoking article comprises: a fuel element comprising a carbonaceous material and ultrafine particles. [0012] In a still further aspect, the present invention provides methods and apparatus for the simultaneous relative quantification of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in a gaseous mixture. In an embodiment, the method comprises injecting a gaseous mixture into a split single injector of a gas chromatograph for splitting the gaseous mixture onto two chromatographic columns; resolving the carbon monoxide content of the gaseous mixture on a first chromatographic column; simultaneously resolving the carbon dioxide content of the gaseous mixture on a second chromatographic column; and detecting and quantifying the resolved carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide contents with a mass spectrometer. Embodiments of the method may be utilized to simultaneously quantify the relative amounts of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in aerosol from a smoking article. [0013] An advantage of the present invention is that that fuel elements of the present invention may be used in applications where it is desirable to reduce amounts of carbon monoxide. [0014] Further features and advantages of the present invention are set forth in the following more detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [0015] FIG. 1 illustrates a smoking article according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0016] FIG. 2 illustrates a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0017] FIG. 3 illustrates an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0018] FIG. 4 illustrates an ion chromatogram of a standard gaseous mixture resolved on dual columns according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0019] FIG. 5 illustrates an ion chromatogram of a standard gaseous mixture resolved on a Molsieve column according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0020] FIG. 6 illustrates an ion chromatogram of a standard gaseous mixture resolved on a Carbon Plot column according to an embodiment of the present invention. Continue reading about Ultra-fine particle catalysts for carbonaceous fuel elements... Full patent description for Ultra-fine particle catalysts for carbonaceous fuel elements Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Ultra-fine particle catalysts for carbonaceous fuel elements patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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