A method of drying small cigars

Abstract

The present application belongs to the technical field of tobacco processing, and particularly relates to a small-sized cigar drying method. According to the water content characteristics of different parts of a cigarette and the requirement of the water content of a standard cigarette, the present application carries out drying of the cigarette in stages, and gives the corresponding drying temperature, relative humidity and drying time of the cigarette in different stages. Through the stage-by-stage drying, the water content of the cigarette is gradually reduced, the deformation of the cigarette is avoided, the risk of the cigar cover breaking is reduced, the overall loss rate of the cigarette is reduced, the drying uniformity is improved, the operation of manually turning over the cigarette and the operation of covering the cigarette with a plastic bag for moisture retention are omitted, and the labor cost is reduced.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The application belongs to the technical field of tobacco processing, and particularly relates to a small-sized cigar drying method. BACKGROUND

[0002] The traditional cigar is divided into four types according to weight in the national standard of cigar, which are large, medium, small and micro-sized cigars, wherein the large-sized cigar is m>6.0g, the medium-sized cigar is 3.0g

[0003] A complete cigar is composed of a cigar wrapper, a cigar jacket and a cigar core, and the cigar jacket and the cigar core are directly wrapped with the cigar wrapper without a middle shaping process after being rolled into a tobacco blank. According to the production and processing characteristics of the cigar, the water content of the tobacco leaves of different components during processing is required to be 12.0-14.0% for the cigar core, 22.0-26.0% for the cigar jacket and 30.0-34.0% for the cigar wrapper, so that the overall water content of the cigarette after rolling is 19.5-21.0%, and the water content of the cigarette is required to be 11.5-13.5% according to the cigarette process, and therefore the cigarette after rolling needs to be dried to meet the processing requirements of the next process.

[0004] At present, the research on the drying of the cigar cigarette is mostly concentrated in the hand-made cigar or the leaf-type cigar with a medium-sized or above specification, and the production of the small-sized cigar cigarette is large in the actual production, and the drying pressure is large, and the drying parameters are mostly referred to the drying parameters of the other medium-sized or large-sized cigarette, and the hot air drying, microwave drying or vacuum drying and the like are mostly used, but these drying methods have the common characteristics that the drying rate of the cigarette is too fast, the deformation is serious, and the number of layers of the placed cigarette is small. Generally speaking, the faster the drying rate of the cigarette is, the worse the uniformity of the drying is, and the larger the limitation of the number of layers of the placed cigarette is, for example, the vacuum drying is generally placed in a single layer, but the feasibility of the single-layer placement is not strong in the actual production; the hot air drying is placed in about ten layers, but the high temperature causes the serious loss of the aroma of the cigarette in the drying process, and the drying rate is too fast, so that the cigarette needs to be manually turned over to improve the uniformity of the drying of the cigarette, and the cigarette tray needs to be covered with a plastic bag after the drying is completed to prevent the water content of the cigarette from being further reduced, and the process is complex and requires more workers.

[0005] Compared with other cigar rods, the small cigar rod has a higher moisture content after being just rolled, and the process requires a lower moisture content, so if it is dried according to the above method, the following problems exist: 1. The moisture content of each part of the cigar rod after being just rolled is quite different, and the rapid water loss of the rod will cause the rod to deform; 2. The rapid drying water loss increases the risk of breaking of the cigar leaf, and the overall loss of the rod increases; 3. The drying rate of the surface rod in the tray is too fast, and the drying rate of the middle layer rod is too slow, and the overall drying uniformity of the rod is poor; 4. The rapid drying is not easy to grasp and control the drying end node, and the actual operation process needs to increase the sampling frequency of the moisture content of the rod; 5. The drying process needs to manually adjust the position of the rod and the plastic bag for moisture retention, which increases the labor input.

[0006] Therefore, how to optimize the existing small cigar rod drying process to meet the production requirements while reducing labor input and improving the overall effect of rod drying is a technical problem that needs to be solved. SUMMARY

[0007] The purpose of the present application is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a small cigar drying method, which gradually reduces the moisture content of the rod by segmented drying, reduces the deformation and drying loss of the rod, improves the drying uniformity, and meets the demand of industrial processing for small cigar drying.

[0008] To solve the above technical problems, the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0009] A small cigar drying method, comprising the following steps:

[0010] S1, the cigar rods are placed in the tray in the same direction;

[0011] S2, dry the rod in a medium temperature and high humidity environment to make the rod reach a first target moisture content;

[0012] S3, place the rod reaching the first target moisture content in a high temperature and low humidity environment for drying to make the rod reach a second target moisture content;

[0013] S4, place the rod reaching the second target moisture content in a low temperature and medium humidity environment for balancing, and keep the moisture content of the rod at the second target moisture content without further decrease.

[0014] The preferred technical solution of the present application: the cigar rod in step S1 includes small cigars and micro cigars, and the weight of the rod m is less than or equal to 3.0g.

[0015] The preferred technical scheme of the present application: the placing height of the cigar in step S1 is 8-14cm or 11-14 layers which can be 11cm, 10cm, 9cm or 11 layers, 12 layers, 14 layers, etc. Through the double control of temperature and humidity and placing height (or layer number), the uniformity of the overall drying of the cigarette is ensured, and the drying effect is improved.

[0016] The preferred technical scheme of the present application: in step S2, the temperature of the medium-temperature high-humidity environment is 15.0-17.0℃, and the relative humidity is 64.0-67.0%.

[0017] The preferred technical scheme of the present application: in step S2, the drying time of the cigarette is 24-36h, and the first target moisture content is 15.0-16.5%.

[0018] The preferred technical scheme of the present application: in step S3, the temperature of the high-temperature low-humidity environment is 20.0-23.0.℃, and the relative humidity is 52.0-55.0%.

[0019] The preferred technical scheme of the present application: in step S3, the drying time of the cigarette is 36-72h, and the second target moisture content is 11.5-13.5%.

[0020] The preferred technical scheme of the present application: in step S4, the temperature of the low-temperature medium-humidity environment is 11.0-14.0℃, and the relative humidity is 60.0-63.0%.

[0021] The preferred technical scheme of the present application: in step S4, the balancing time of the cigarette is not less than 24h.

[0022] The above drying method adopted in the present application is based on the following principles:

[0023] The general rolling method of small cigar is mechanical (non-hand rolling), and the moisture contents of the cigar cover, cigar sleeve and cigar core are different due to different rolling requirements, and the general requirement for the moisture content range is: 12.0-14.0% for the cigar core, 21.0-23.0% for the cigar sleeve, and 31.0-33.0% for the cigar cover. In the rolling process of the mechanical cigarette, different component tobaccos are used at the same time, and the moisture contents of the component tobaccos of the cigarette are quite different after the rolling is completed. The existing drying method is relatively fast, and the moisture content of the cigar cover is relatively high. In the process of rapid drying, the whole cigarette may be deformed due to the rapid water loss, and the risk of breaking of the cigar cover tobacco is increased. The size of the small cigarette is relatively small, and if the deformation occurs, it is more obvious than the cigarette with larger size.

[0024] Tobacco leaf belongs to colloidal capillary porous material, and its tissue structure is a porous body with capillary, which determines that the tobacco leaf has strong hygroscopicity, and the tobacco leaf can balance water in a relatively short time. The present application is aimed at the characteristics that the components of the just-rolled cigarette have large differences, and combines with the hygroscopicity of the tobacco leaf itself to dry the cigarette in stages. First, in step S2, the environment condition of medium temperature and high humidity is set, the hygroscopicity of the cigarette is used to promote the water balance of different parts of the tobacco leaf (jacket, sleeve and core), and at the same time, the drying speed of the cigarette is slowed down, so that the overall moisture content of the cigarette slightly decreases to reach the first target moisture content. Subsequently, in step S3, the environment condition of relatively high temperature and low humidity is set to promote the decrease of the overall moisture content of the cigarette, ensure the uniformity of the overall drying of the cigarette, improve the drying effect, and make the cigarette reach the second target moisture content. In the actual production, a plastic bag is usually sleeved on the drying completed cigarette tray to prevent the moisture content of the cigarette from further decreasing, so that the moisture content of the cigarette is maintained in the qualified range and meets the moisture content requirement of the next process. Finally, according to the moisture content range required by the process and the balanced moisture content of the cigarette, the environment condition of low temperature and medium humidity is set in step S4 to ensure that the moisture content of the cigarette does not decrease any more at the second target moisture content, and at the same time, the moisture content of the same batch of cigarettes is more balanced, so that the operation of manually sleeving a plastic bag for moisture retention is not needed.

[0025] In summary, the present application provides a small cigar drying method, which is based on the moisture content characteristics of different parts of the tobacco leaf of the cigarette and the requirement of the standard cigarette moisture content, and dries the cigarette in stages. The corresponding drying temperature, relative humidity and drying time of the cigarette in different stages are given. The method gradually reduces the moisture content of the cigarette through stage-by-stage drying, avoids the deformation of the cigarette due to rapid water loss, reduces the risk of jacket breakage, reduces the overall loss rate of the cigarette, improves the drying uniformity, and eliminates the manual operation of turning over the cigarette and sleeving a plastic bag for moisture retention, thereby reducing the labor cost.

[0026] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following beneficial effects:

[0027] (1) The moisture content of the cigarette is gradually reduced through stage-by-stage drying, and the deformation of the cigarette due to rapid water loss is avoided;

[0028] (2) The moisture loss of the jacket during the drying process is buffered, the risk of jacket breakage is reduced, the overall loss rate of the cigarette is reduced, the temperature during the entire drying process is relatively low, the aroma loss due to high temperature during the drying process is reduced, and the sensory quality is ensured;

[0029] (3) The number of layers and the height of the cigarette are controlled in combination with the drying temperature and humidity parameters, and the drying uniformity of the cigarette is improved;

[0030] (4) The drying speed of the cigarette is controlled to be completed within 3-6 days, so that the cigarette is not deformed due to rapid drying, and the cigarette production and processing are not affected due to slow drying.

[0031] (5) After the cigarettes reach the required moisture content, the moisture content of the cigarettes is kept within the standard range by adjusting the temperature and humidity. The process only requires the detection of the moisture content of the cigarettes at key nodes, and the manual operation of putting plastic bags on them to keep them moist is reduced, thus reducing labor costs.

[0032] (6) The entire drying process can be completed by adjusting the ambient temperature and humidity parameters. The process does not require manual turning of the cigarettes, making it easy to operate. Detailed Implementation

[0033] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to embodiments, but the embodiments are not intended to limit the technical solutions of the present invention. Any person skilled in the art can refer to the content of the present invention and appropriately change the raw materials, process conditions, and other aspects to achieve other corresponding objectives within the scope of the technology disclosed in the present invention. Such changes do not depart from the content of the present invention, and all similar substitutions and modifications are obvious to those skilled in the art and are considered to be included within the scope of the present invention.

[0034] To better explain the present invention, the main contents of the present invention are further illustrated below with reference to specific embodiments, but the contents of the present invention are not limited to the following embodiments.

[0035] The temperature and humidity control equipment for the drying room in this embodiment is a precision air conditioner for computer rooms (Emerson Network Power Co., Ltd.), model: DME07MH1.

[0036] Example 1

[0037] A method for drying small cigars, comprising the following steps:

[0038] S1. Arrange cigars with dimensions (length * circumference / mm) 100 * 31.4 and a weight of 1.8 ± 0.3g neatly in the same direction on the cigar tray, with a stacking height of 11 layers (11cm).

[0039] S2. Move the tobacco trays to the drying room and place them on the drying rack. Adjust the temperature and humidity controller to 15.0℃ and the relative humidity to 64.0% to allow the tobacco sticks to reach a moisture balance in different parts of the tobacco leaves (wrapper, binder, and core) under medium temperature and high humidity conditions. At the same time, reduce the overall moisture content of the tobacco sticks. After drying for 24 hours, the moisture content of the dried tobacco sticks is sampled and tested according to the national standard GB / T 15269.1. The moisture content of the tobacco sticks is found to be 15.0%, which meets the first target moisture content.

[0040] S3, the temperature of the temperature and humidity controller is adjusted to 20.0℃, and the relative humidity is adjusted to 52.0%, so as to promote the decrease of the overall moisture content of the cigarette by using the high-temperature and low-humidity environment condition, and after drying for 36h, the moisture content of the dried cigarette is detected by sampling, and the moisture content of the cigarette is 13.5%, reaching the second target moisture content;

[0041] S4, the temperature of the temperature and humidity controller is adjusted to 11.0℃, and the relative humidity is adjusted to 63.0%, so as to balance the cigarette reaching the second target moisture content in the low-temperature and medium-humidity environment condition for 24h, so as to keep the moisture content of the cigarette at the second target moisture content and make the moisture content of the same batch of cigarettes more balanced.

[0042] Example 2

[0043] On the basis of Example 1, the specification of the cigarette used in step S1 is adjusted to 84*24.5mm, and the weight is 0.95±0.08g, and the placing height of the cigar cigarette is adjusted to 12 layers (9cm);

[0044] In step S2, the medium-temperature and high-humidity environment condition is adjusted to a temperature of 17.0℃ and a relative humidity of 67.0%, and the drying time of the cigarette is 36h, and the first target moisture content is 16.5%;

[0045] In step S3, the high-temperature and low-humidity environment condition is adjusted to a temperature of 23.0℃ and a relative humidity of 55.0%, and the drying time is 72h, and the second target moisture content is 11.5%;

[0046] In step S4, the low-temperature and medium-humidity environment condition is adjusted to a temperature of 14.0℃ and a relative humidity of 60.0%, and the balancing time is 48h.

[0047] Example 3

[0048] On the basis of Example 1, the placing height of the cigar cigarette in step S1 is adjusted to 14 layers (14cm);

[0049] In step S2, the medium-temperature and high-humidity environment condition is adjusted to a temperature of 16.0℃ and a relative humidity of 65.0%, and the drying time of the cigarette is 30h, and the first target moisture content is 15.5%;

[0050] In step S3, the high-temperature and low-humidity environment condition is adjusted to a temperature of 22.0℃ and a relative humidity of 53.0%, and the drying time is 70h, and the second target moisture content is 12.5%;

[0051] In step S4, the low-temperature and medium-humidity environment condition is adjusted to a temperature of 13.0℃ and a relative humidity of 62.0%, and the balancing time is 60h.

[0052] Comparative Example 1 (vacuum drying method)

[0053] 1. Apparatus: Vacuum drying test box, model: HE-WD-400A (Dongguan Haosi Testing Instrument Co., Ltd.) 2. Test method:

[0054] (1) Take the cigarette with the specification (length * circumference) of 100 * 31.4 and the weight of 1.8 ± 0.3 g, which is just finished rolling, and place it in the cigarette tray in the same direction, with the height of four layers (the lowest layer is the first layer and the uppermost layer is the fourth layer).

[0055] (2) Place the cigarette tray in the vacuum drying box, and adjust the vacuum degree to -100.0-99.7 KPa. Weigh every half hour during the test.

[0056] (3) Measure the moisture content of each cigarette before, during and after the test, calculate the moisture content of the cigarette during the whole test, and count the number of deformed and broken cigarettes, as shown in Tables 1-4.

[0057] 3. Test results

[0058] Table 1 Moisture content change of cigarette during vacuum drying process

[0059]

[0060] Table 2 Moisture content of cigarettes of the application and comparative example 1

[0061]

[0062] From Table 1, it can be seen that during the vacuum drying process of comparative example 1, the moisture content of the cigarette decreases with the increase of drying time, but due to the too fast drying rate, the moisture content of the cigarettes in different layers decreases greatly, and the overall drying uniformity of the cigarette is poor. Overall, the moisture content of the bottom and top layers of the cigarette decreases faster than that of the middle layers, which is specifically shown as: the first layer > the fourth layer > the second layer > the third layer. The process requirement of the cigarette is that the moisture content of the finished product is 11.5-13.5%, and the moisture content of the bottom and top layers of the cigarette reaches the required range after 2.5 h of drying, while the moisture content of the middle two layers is higher than the upper limit of the qualified moisture content. After 4.0 h of drying, the moisture content of the middle two layers reaches the required range, and the moisture content of the bottom and top layers of the cigarette is lower than the lower limit of the required moisture content.

[0063] From Table 2, it can be seen that the drying speed of the staged drying method of the application is significantly reduced, the moisture content of the cigarette decreases slowly, and thus the overall drying uniformity of the cigarette can be improved.

[0064] Table 3 Deformation rate and breakage rate of cigarette during vacuum drying process

[0065]

[0066] Table 4: Cigarette deformation rate and breakage rate of the examples and comparative example 1

[0067]

[0068] As can be seen from Tables 3-4, the deformation rate of the vacuum-dried cigarettes is generally high, which can be related to the rapid decrease in the water content of the vacuum-dried cigarettes. For example, the water content of the top and bottom layers decreases rapidly, and the deformation and breakage rates of the cigarettes are relatively high. The water content of the middle two layers decreases slowly, and the deformation and breakage rates of the cigarettes are relatively low. This indicates that the deformation and breakage rates of the cigarettes are related to the decrease in the water content of the cigarettes.

[0069] In general, the vacuum drying has the following problems: 1. The drying rate of the surface layer of the cigarette tray is too fast, and the drying rate of the middle layer is too slow, resulting in poor drying uniformity of the whole cigarette. The number of layers of the cigarettes is limited, and the range of the average water content of the cigarettes placed in four layers reaches 2.81%. The number of layers of the cigarettes is limited in industrial applications, and the feasibility is not strong. 2. The water content of each part of the just-rolled cigar is different, and the drying rate of the vacuum drying method is too fast. The water content of the cigarettes decreases by 7.0-10.0% in 4.0 hours, and the fast drying leads to an increase in the deformation and breakage rates of the cigarettes. The present application avoids the deformation and breakage of the cigarettes by drying in stages and gradually reducing the water content of the cigarettes. The number of layers and the height of the cigarettes are controlled in combination with the drying temperature and humidity parameters, and the drying uniformity of the cigarettes is improved.

[0070] Comparative example 2 (hot air drying method)

[0071] 1. Equipment: oven equipment; centrifugal fan, model: 4-72-11 no5 (Wuhan Blower Factory)

[0072] 2. Drying method:

[0073] (1) Take the cigarettes with a specification of (length * circumference) 84*24.5 mm and a weight of 0.95±0.08 g, which are just rolled, and place them in the cigarette tray in the same direction. The height of the cigarettes is 12 layers, and the cigarette tray is placed in the cigarette rack.

[0074] (2) Place the cigarette rack in the workshop environment for moisture balance and initial drying. The workshop environment is 25.0℃ and 60.0% relative humidity, and the placement time is 2-3 days.

[0075] (3) Push the cigarette rack into the oven, and turn on the centrifugal fan in the oven for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon every day. The temperature is set to 50.0℃, and the relative humidity is not higher than 40.0-50.0%. Every day, the fan is turned off, the temperature in the oven is reduced to room temperature, the operator enters the oven to move the cigarettes, and the moisture content is detected. The period of the cigarettes in the oven is about 2 days.

[0076] (4) After detecting that the moisture is qualified, the drying is ended, the cigarette tray is covered with a plastic bag, and is fastened with a cable tie to prevent the moisture of the cigarette from further changing. The deformation rate and the breakage rate of the cigarette are counted as shown in Table 5.

[0077] Table 5 Deformation rate and breakage rate of the cigarette of the example and the comparative example 2

[0078]

[0079] In the hot air drying process, it is found through spot check on the moisture content of the cigarette that the moisture content of the surface layer of the cigarette tray loses too fast, and the moisture content of the surface layer and the middle layer of the cigarette differs by more than 2.0%. As shown in Table 5, the proportion of the deformation and the breakage of the cigarette increases. In order to ensure the uniformity of the moisture, the cigarette needs to be manually turned over during the drying process, and the turning over process also increases the breakage of the cigarette.

[0080] Overall, the total loss rate of the cigarette in the hot air drying process is about 16.0%, while the drying loss of the application can be controlled below 2%. In addition, it is found through sensory quality evaluation that the aroma loss of the cigarette after hot air drying is large, and the sensory quality decreases. The production process requires more labor, such as turning over the cigarette, bagging, etc., and the labor cost of the production process increases. The drying method provided by the application reduces the risk of crushing of the tobacco jacket through buffering of the moisture loss of the tobacco jacket during the drying process, and the loss rate of the cigarette decreases as a whole. The temperature of the whole drying process is lower than that of the hot air drying, which reduces the aroma loss during the drying process and ensures the sensory quality. The cigarette does not need to be manually turned over during the whole drying process, the moisture content of the cigarette is controlled in the range required by the standard by adjusting the temperature and humidity of the environment after the drying is ended, the operation of manually bagging the plastic bag for moisture retention is reduced, and the labor cost is reduced.

[0081] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the application, and do not limit the implementation manners and the protection scope of the application. It should be recognized by those skilled in the art that any equivalent replacement and obvious changes made according to the content of the specification of the application should be included in the protection scope of the application.

Claims

1. A method for drying small-scale cigars, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1. Arrange the cigars neatly in the tobacco tray in the same direction; S2. Dry the cigars in a medium-temperature, high-humidity environment until they reach a first target moisture content; S3. Place the cigars that have reached the first target moisture content in a high-temperature, low-humidity environment to dry them until they reach a second target moisture content; S4. Place the cigars that have reached the second target moisture content in a low-temperature, medium-humidity environment to equilibrate them and prevent the moisture content of the cigars from decreasing further from the second target moisture content; In step S2, the temperature of the medium-temperature and high-humidity environment is 15.0-17.0℃, the relative humidity is 64.0-67.0%, the drying time of the cigarette is 24-36h, and the first target moisture content is 15.0-16.5%. In step S3, the temperature of the high temperature and low humidity environment is 20.0-23.0℃, the relative humidity is 52.0-55.0%, the drying time of the cigarette is 36-72h, and the second target moisture content is 11.5-13.5%. In step S4, the temperature of the low-temperature humid environment is 11.0-14.0℃, and the relative humidity is 60.0-63.0%.

2. The method for drying small cigars according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cigars mentioned in step S1 include small cigars and miniature cigars, with a weight m ≤ 3.0g.

3. The method for drying small cigars according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cigars in step S1 are arranged at a height of 8-14cm or 11-14 layers.

4. The method for drying small cigars according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S4, the balancing time of the cigarette is not less than 24 hours.

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