Hauni-Werke Korber & Co Kg.

Jurgen Koehn

Waldemar Wochnowski

Reinhard Hohm

Hans Forster

The moisture content of a stream of tobacco leaves is increased during travel through a rotary drum wherein the leaves are contacted by and exchange heat and moisture with a current of hot humid air which flows concurrent with the leaves. The moisture content of air is regulated in dependency on deviations of the final moisture content of tobacco leaves from a desired final moisture content by varying the temperature of a shower of water droplets across which the air current passes on its way into the inlet end of the drum. The temperature of air is normally constant but is changed when the initial moisture content of tobacco leaves exceeds the desired final moisture content. Tobacco leaves entering the inlet end of the drum are subjected to a preliminary moisturizing action of steam and/or atomized water, and such moisturizing action can be varied in dependency on fluctuations of initial and/or final moisture content of tobacco and/or in dependency on fluctuations in the rate of tobacco delivery into the drum. The preliminary moisturizing action requires no adjustment if the steam of tobacco leaves is equalized upstream of the drum.

Growing community of inventors

Wentorf, Germany

Jurgen Koehn