MOISTURE DIFFUSION FROM DENSELY PACKED CURED BURLEY TOBACCO.

A one-dimensional mathematical model for diffusion of moisture in densely packed cured burley tobacco leaves was shown to provide a very good fit to experimentally acquired desorption data. The mass diffusivity of densely packed burley tobacco leaves was found to be a function of direction of diffusion relative to the leaf lamina, initial moisture content of the tobacco, stalk position and temperature of the drying air. In cases associated with small Biot numbers the convective mass transfer coefficient cannot be assumed to be infinite and should be included in mass diffusivity determinations.