Influences of Loading Density of Tobacco Drying Chamber on Drying Quality

Drying is one of the most important steps in tobacco processing because it determines the color, taste, and micronutrients in tobacco. The loading density and the arrangement of tobacco leaves in the drying chamber affect the temperature and humidity distribution of the air, thereby affecting the drying quality. In this paper, three drying cases with different tobacco weights were studied by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation as well as experimental. The results show that when the loading density of the tobacco drying chamber increases, the local resistance of tobacco leaves increases sharply, and the velocity difference and temperature difference of the air in the tobacco drying chamber increases. The maximum temperature difference in the highest loading density reaches 10 K. The uneven temperature distribution of the air reduces the quality of the dried tobacco.