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Tobacco Science & Technology, 2012, 4, p. 5-8, ISSN.1002-0861

Characterization of cut tobacco size distribution based on fractal theory

YU Na(1); SHEN Xiaofeng(2); XU Dayong(1); LI Huajie(3); CHANG Mingbin(3); DU Jinsong(1)
(1) Zhengzhou Tobacco Research Institute of CNTC, Zhengzhou 450001, P.R. China; (2) Technology Center of Hongyun Honghe Tobacco (Group) Co., Ltd., Kunming 650202, P.R. China; (3) Technology Center of China Tobacco Fujian Industrial Co., Ltd., Xiamen 361004, Fujian, P.R. China

In order to study the characteristics of cut tobacco size distribution, the correlation equation of accumulative mass percentage of cut tobacco under test sieve versus fractal dimension was derived, and the relationship between loss of tobacco from cigarette end and fractal dimension was discussed. The results showed that: 1) a fractal model of cut tobacco size distribution was setup based on particle size fractal theory, the calculated accumulative mass percentage of cut tobacco under test sieve by the model well agreed with the measured value (R2= 0.9403), which indicated that cut tobacco size distribution was compliant with fractal characteristic; 2) for the cut tobacco of the same blend, higher fractal dimension related to higher cut tobacco percentage under the same mesh size and smaller characteristic size; 3) there existed linear relation between loss of tobacco from cigarette end and fractal dimension (R2=0.9007). It indicated that fractal dimension could be used as an index to quantitatively evaluate loss of tobacco from cigarette end and a reference for optimizing the technological parameter in processing.