A report on cigarette manufacturing

Jinfeng’s specialty papers are mainly offered to manufacturers of filter cigarettes.

It is essential to understand how the cigarettes are made.

This month, we had an opportunity to visit Jinfeng’s partner, CDZY Tobacco Factory.  It was not only a simple visit but also a deep study of cigarette paper applications.

Below is the report dedicated to the whole process of cigarette production.

Study range:  tobacco leaf processing, cigarette packaging, filter tip making, and quality inspection.

Part One, Safety Training

The first thing is safety training when we arrived at the tobacco factory.

The cigarette factory is a state-owned enterprise and the fire prevention level is the highest. Therefore, no matter whether an intern or a new employee, the first thing needed to know is safety knowledge.

The safety knowledge lecture on the first day was mainly aimed at possible accidental injuries caused by large machinery and equipment, as well as fire prevention knowledge. After the lecture, a learning test was conducted.

Further study only after the test passed.

Part Two, Tobacco Processing

Tobacco production lines:

Temperature 26°C – 30°C, Humidity 45% – 50%, Level A (High, premium brand) and Level N (normal).

Capacity:

A Line: 5000kg per hour

N line: 8000kg per hour

Production Process:

Unpacking – cutting into pieces (4 pieces with 3 times) – vacuum moisture resurgence (insecticide, increase moisture) – loose moisture – (feeder, hoist) – heating and humidification – shredding machine – warming and humidification – shredding feeder – heating and humidification – drying machine – (vibration screening) – separation by wind and impurity removal (72 hours, at least 4 hours, up to 7 days) – Total scale, pressing (10%) – Adding shredded stems (9%) – Adding expanded tobacco (3%) – Tobacco recycle – fragrance mixing – Storage (15,000kg per cabinet)

Notice:

1. The tobacco workshop is dusty and noisy, related preventions are needed.
2. The machines are running at a high speed, and we need to pay attention to safety during observation and study.
3. Regular maintenance and inspection for the machines are needed, due to breakdown is easily happened during tobacco processing.
4. The production lines are designed to a U layout. Thus the production capacity is raised.

Part Three, Cigarette Packaging

Process:

Shredded tobacco conveying – feeder – forming – tobacco tube – (cigarette paper bobbin) – cigarette cutting – double cigarette cutting (filter provide) – conveying device – packing into a hopper – small box packaging (7-6-7 a pack) – carton packaging – transparent paper – transportation – packaging in a box – storage

Equipment:

10,000 – 11,000 pieces per minute (depending on the machine load)

500 packs per minute.

Notice:

1. According to observations, the process and mechanism of the cigarette box forming unit are roughly similar to that of the filter tip unit.
2. In general, the box-forming speed is greater than the rolling speed.
3. Each unit consists of three parts, which are cigarette forming, box packaging, and filter packaging.
4. The packed cigarette carton will be directly conveyed to the box-forming unit.
5. There is a storage cabinet between the cigarette forming unit and the box packaging unit, which is responsible for the transfer of cigarettes. If a part of it fails, the whole line will not be shut down and production can continue. The storage cabinet can generally be used by the unit to continue to produce 14 boxes of cigarettes.
6. It is necessary to clean each part of the unit regularly to prevent impurities such as shredded tobacco from clogging the machine.
7. Regular spot checks are required, and they are sent to the strict investigation department to check whether they are qualified.

Part Four, Filter Tips Making

Plug Wrap Paper:

Normal / Non-porous plug wrap paper;

Highly porous plug wrap paper.

Acetate Tow:

3.0Y-35000;

3.0Y-30000.

Filter types:

Normal permeability 2700Pa*100mm;

High permeability 3000Pa*100mm.

Process:

Double tow fiber – jetting glyceride – passing through the cigarette tube – adding plug wrap paper – forming – curing (4 hours) – entering the transmitter unit and launching to the wrapping workshop

Equipment models:

K3 – 6000pcs/min

K3 – 4000pcs/min

Notice:

1. Regular checking of filter tips is needed. The detection includes draw-resistant value, length, circumference, pressure drop, hardness, roundness, etc.
2. The launch speed of the transmitter unit is generally controlled by the wrapping workshop according to the wrapping speed (both sides can be controlled).
3. There is a lot of dust and noise in the filter tips workshop, and protective measures against noise and dust must be taken during the working period.
4. Each unit of the transmitter unit has two pipelines to prevent the unit from being unable to operate normally when one of them fails. Generally, one pipe is connected to three wrapping units in the wrapping workshop.
5. It is necessary to regularly clean each part of the unit to prevent dust and other impurities from clogging the machine.

Part Five, Quality Inspection Center

The quality inspection center is composed of the finished product warehouse, materials warehouse, gas & chemical lab, quality inspection lab, and so on.

The quality inspector disassembles the finished cigarettes and checks whether the quality of shredded tobacco is up to standard.

Summarize

There are many departments in a cigarette factory. From research and development, and planting, to production, sales, and distribution, each process has many tasks and responsibilities.

Cigarette Paper is a key part of a cigarette and represents the highest level of paper manufacturing.

Next time we will research the HNB factory, to see how specialty paper is applied in the field.