A Comprehensive Analysis of Inorganic Ions and Their Selective Removal from the Reconstituted Tobacco Extract Using Electrodialysis

Many tobacco stalks, dust, and fines are discharged in the tobacco industry, rich in inorganic minerals ions and nicotine salts. The high salinity and nicotine salts are challenging to be addressed by traditional treatment and are a severe threat that ought to be overcome. Thus, proper techniques can regenerate the tobacco stalks into reconstituted tobacco flakes used as cigarette filler. The electrodialysis process has been a viable approach to removing the inorganic ingredients in wastewater. We studied concentration, pH, and co-related influences with the nicotine and sugar/nicotine contents on the desalination performance. The results show that the inorganic ions such as Cl-, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ ions were successfully removed. When the feed concentration ranges from 3 to 15%, the removal ratio of the K+ ions is higher than Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions. As we reported previously, the K+ and Ca2+ ions are unfavorable for the total particulate matter emission but beneficial to decreasing the HCN delivery in mainstream cigarette smoke. Selective ED is a robust technology to reduce the harmful component delivery in cigarette smoke.