Tobacco Industries

The tobacco industry is comprised of a set of companies or corporations that

grow, sell and distribute tobacco and related products such as cigarettes, cigars, snuff,
chewing tobacco and pipe tobacco throughout the world. A variety of products, at
several price points, cover most customer taste.
I.

History of Tobacco Industry

Tobacco, one of the most important cash crops in American farming, is native to

the North and South American continents. As early as 1 B.C., American Indians began
using tobacco in many different ways, such as in religious and medicinal practices. It
first became known to the rest of the world when an early explorer of the Americas,
Rodrigo de Jerez, brought the habit of smoking tobacco back to Spain around 1504.
Tobacco was introduced to France in 1556, Portugal in 1558, and Spain in 1559, and
England in 1565. Beginning around the mid-1500s, tobacco was used as a medicine. It
was believed to be an effective treatment for colic, nephritis, hysteria, hernia, and
dysentery, toothache, falling fingernails, worms, bad breath, lockjaw, and cancer, among
other illnesses. As early as 1602, however, a connection was made between the
cancers and lung diseases suffered by chimney sweeps (caused by soot) and illnesses
that could have been caused by tobacco. As its popularity grew, tobacco gained value.
In the American Colonies, tobacco was used as money throughout the 17th and 18th
centuries. In fact, in Jamestown Virginia in 1612, the very first American Thanksgiving
celebrated a good tobacco crop. 1753, Swedish Botanist Carolus Linnaeus named the
tobacco plant genus, nicotiana, and also described two species, nicotiana rustica and
nicotiana tabacum. He named the genus after Nicot de Villemain, an ambassador who
introduced the plant to France in about 1550. By the 1800's, many people had begun

using small amounts of tobacco. Some chewed it. Others smoked it occasionally in a
pipe, or they hand-rolled a cigarette or cigar. The roots of the modern tobacco industry
began in the mid-1800s with Philip Morris beginning to sell Turkish cigarettes in London,
and J.E. Liggett establishing his tobacco business in St. Louis, Missouri. Matches, who
made smoking more convenient, were also introduced at this time. In 1884 James
Bonsack received the patent for the first cigarette-rolling machine. Production speed
increased from 2,000 a day to 120,000 a day. Bonsack went into business with the
tobacco farmers Washington and James "Buck" Duke. That year, the Dukes alone
produced 744,000 cigarettes, more than the national total in 1883. By the early 20th
century, with the growth in cigarette smoking, articles addressing the health effects of
smoking began to appear in scientific and medical journals.
II.

Economics in Tobacco Industry

Tobacco is grown in more than 125 countries around the world and an over 10

million acres of farmland. Today, the largest producers of tobacco leaf are China, Brazil,
India, United States, Zimbabwe, and Turkey. The United States is the third largest
exporter of tobacco, after Brazil and China. In North America, tobacco used has
dropped each year since 1980s, while in other countries especially in Asia, tobacco
consumption is rising. People in China consume the most cigarettes, at about 1,643
billion per year. The import, export, and sales of cigarettes are heavily taxed by the
governments in each country. Some people argue that high taxes on tobacco products
encourage people to quit smoking, and that the money provides revenue, or income, for
governments. In some countries, the tax collected from the sale of cigarettes helps the
government pay for the cost of treating people with smoking-related diseases.

III.

Raw Material used in Tobacco Industry

Tobacco is a green, leafy plant that is grown in warm climates. It belongs to the

family of plants called Nightshade or Solanaceae family. Potatoes, tomatoes, and

eggplant belong to the same plant family as tobacco. Tobaccos genus, Nicotiana,
contains 64 species, two of which are the most common, Nicotiana rustica and
Nicotiana tabacum. Most tobacco presently consumed by humans is Nicotiana
tabacum, a tall, annual, broad leafed plant. Nicotiana rustica is similar in appearance
but shorter and with fleshier leaves.
Composition
Inside the tobacco leaves stores the nicotine. About 5 percent (by weight)
of the tobacco plant is nicotine (C10H14N2), a naturally occurring liquid alkaloid. An
alkaloid is an organic compound made out of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and
sometimes oxygen, and it can have potent effects on the human body. It is the
chemical that makes tobacco addictive or habit forming. Once it is smoke, chew,
or sniff, nicotine goes into our bloodstream, and the body wants more. The
nicotine in tobacco makes it a drug. This means that when tobacco is used, it
changes the body in some way. Because nicotine is a stimulant, it speeds up the
nervous system, so humans feel like they have more energy. It also makes the
heart beat faster and raises blood pressure.
Types of Tobacco
Virginia (40 % of world tobacco production) is high in sugar and low in
oils. The colour of the leaves ranges from bright lemon yellow to medium brown;
the lighter colours being spicier in flavour and the darker coloured leaves having
a more deeper and complex taste. Virginia is used almost entirely in cigarette

blends. Some of the heavier leaves may be used in mixtures for pipe smoking.
Some English cigarettes are entirely composed of Virginia tobacco.
Major producers in the world are China, U.S.A., Brazil, India and Zimbabwe.
Burley (11 % of world production) is usually light air-cured, derived from
the White Burley which arose as a mutant on a farm in Ohio in 1864. Burley is
used primarily in cigarette blends. Some of the heavier leaves are used in pipe
blends and also for chewing.
Main producers: U.S.A., Italy, Korea, Brazil, Mexico
Maryland (small total world production) is another usually light air-cured
type. It is used in some American blended cigarettes and to a greater extent in
certain Swiss cigarette blends. Maryland tobacco is extremely fluffy, has good
burning properties, low nicotine and a neutral aroma.
Production countries : U.S.A. and Italy
Oriental (16% of total production) is mild with a very characteristic aroma.
Resins, waxes and gum exuded by glandular hairs (trichomes) supply the aroma.
Nicotine is low, averaging around 1,0%. The tobacco is usually sun-cured.
Main producers : Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Italy
Rustica was discovered when the first settlers reached Jamestown,
Virginia (in what is now the USA), they found the Native Americans smoking
Nicotiana rustica which contains about 10% nicotine. Over the following 300
years, rustica lost a lot of ground to nicotiana tabacum. Nowadays rustica is

grown and used in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia, Indonesia, Afghanistan,

Burma, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, parts of Africa and parts of South America.
IV.

Operations/Processes in Tobacco Industry

Processing of Tobacco in the Field
Tobacco is initially grown in outdoor frames called seedbeds. As the plants grow,
the heads are broken off by hand so the leaves will grow fuller, a process called
topping. The plants stay in the field 90-120 days before they are harvested.
Tobacco plants are harvested by one of two methods, priming or stalk-cutting. In
the priming method, the leaves are gathered and brought to a curing bam as they
ripen. In the stalk-cutting method, the entire plant is cut and the plants are allowed
to wilt in the field before being taken to the curing barn.
Next, the leaves are carefully, gradually dried in a specially constructed barn by
air curing, flue curing, or fire curing.
Air curing uses natural weather conditions to dry tobacco. Stalks are hung in a
barn with ventilators that can be opened and closed to control temperature and
humidity.
Flue curing is done in small, tightly constructed barns that are artificially heated.
The heat comes from flues (metal pipes) that are attached to furnaces. Open oil
and gas burners are sometimes used, but this method is problematic because
smoke can-not come in direct contact with the tobacco.
Fire curing dries tobacco with low-burning wood fires whose smoke comes in
direct contact with the leaves, thus producing a smoky flavor and aroma.
Unless humid weather conditions eliminate the need, the brittle, cured tobacco
leaves must be conditioned in moistening chambers so they do not break when
they are handled. After moistening, the tobacco is stripped. During this process,
the leaves are sprayed with additional moisture as a precaution against cracking
or breaking.

 After the leaves are moistened and stripped, they are sorted into grades based
on size, color, and quality, and tied in bundles for shipment. The farmers then
bring the tobacco to warehouses, where it is placed in baskets, weighed, graded
once again by a government inspector and, finally, auctioned to cigarette
manufacturers.
Process Flowchart of Processing Tobacco in the Field
Growing the tobacco

Harvesting the tobacco

Curing the leaf

Moistening + Stripping

Sorting + Auctioning
Primary Tobacco Processing
The tobacco processing stage that occurs prior to the manufacture of
cigarettes is known in the tobacco products industry as primary processing.
Various types of tobaccos (domestic, off-shore, and reconstituted) are sent
through conditioning cylinders, in which steam is added to loosen and moisten the
tobacco.
The conditioned tobacco is sent to storage silos, where some blending occurs.

 Various blends of tobacco are flavored in cylinders, dried, and remoisturized.

Any domestic, burley tobacco used in the blend is processed separately
(flavored and dried) prior to final blending.
The final tobacco blend is cut, dried, and remoisturized.
The cut tobacco is sent to flavoring cylinders for final flavoring.
Expanded tobacco, a low density tobacco, is added to the final tobacco blend
during the final processing steps.
The processed tobacco is sent to storage silos and then to the cigarette
manufacturing process.
Secondary Tobacco Processing: Cigarette Manufacturing
Cigarette manufacturers use tobacco from the primary processing
operations to manufacture cigarettes.
Blended tobacco, which may include reconstituted, expanded, and other
varieties of tobacco, is conveyed from the primary processing storage silos
to the cigarette manufacturing machines.
The cigarette manufacturing machines place the tobacco onto cigarette
paper as one rod, roll and glue the paper around the tobacco, and cut the
rods to the correct length for cigarettes. Glue containers from the cigarette
manufacturing machines are emptied periodically and washed with hot
water.
The machines place filters between two of the cut cigarettes, wrap the
filters to the cigarettes with filter paper, and cut the filters to create two
cigarettes.
The machines pack the cigarettes and place them in cartons.
Cigarettes that do not meet specification are cut open to reclaim the
tobacco. The cigarette paper and filter are disposed of as trash. The
reclaimed tobacco is returned to primary processing
Process Flowchart for Tobacco Industry

Primary Tobacco Processing

Secondary Tobacco Processing: Cigarette Manufacturing

V.

Products of Tobacco Industry

There are lots of different types of tobacco products readily available today, many
of which will claim to be safer or less harmful than others. However all forms of tobacco
are still a risk factor for disease. These are some of the tobacco products that are
manufactured by different tobacco industries:
Cigarette is a combination of cured and finely cut tobacco,
reconstituted tobacco and other additives rolled or stuffed into a
paperwrapped cylinder. Many cigarettes have a filter on one end.
More than 4,000 different chemicals have been found in tobacco
and tobacco smoke. Among these are more than 60 chemicals that
are known to cause cancer.
Cigars are larger than cigarettes and do not have a filter. Little
cigars or cigarillos are very similar in size and shape of cigarettes,
have filters and are filled with pipe tobacco. Cigars contain higher
level of nicotine than cigarettes. Cigar tobacco leaves are first aged
for about a year and then fermented in a multi-step process that
can take from 3 to 5 months. Fermentation causes chemical and
bacterial reactions that change the tobacco. This is what gives
cigars a different taste and smell from cigarettes.
Hookah is a pipe used to smoke Shisha, a combination of tobacco
and fruit or vegetable that is heated and the smoke is filtrated
through water. The Hookah consists of a head, body water bowl

and hose. The tobacco or Shisha is heated in the hookah usually

using charcoal.
Kreteks (pronounced "cree-techs") are sometimes referred to as
clove cigarettes. Kreteks are imported from Indonesia, and typically
contain a mixture consisting of tobacco, cloves, and other additives.
As with bidis, standardized machine-smoking analyses indicate that
kreteks deliver more nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tar than
conventional cigarettes.
Bidis (pronounced "bee-dees") are small, thin hand-rolled
cigarettes imported to the United States primarily from India and
other Southeast Asian countries. They consist of tobacco wrapped
in a tendu or temburni leaf (plants native to Asia), and may be
secured with a colorful string at one or both ends. Bidis are
carcinogenic. There is no evidence to indicate that bidis are safer
than conventional cigarettes.
Pipes are often reusable and consist of a chamber or bowl, stem
and mouthpiece. Tobacco is placed into the bowl and lit. The smoke
is than drawn through the stem and mouthpiece and inhaled.
Smokeless Tobacco have two main types in the United States,
chewing tobacco and snuff.

References:
http://academic.udayton.edu/health/syllabi/tobacco/history.htm
http://www.tobaccoseed.co.uk/1886%20book%20on%20growing
%20tobacco.pdf
http://healthliteracy.worlded.org/docs/tobacco/Tobacco.pdf
http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/6790291/The_Chemistry_of_Tobacco__Par
t_1.html
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Cigarette.html
http://water.epa.gov/scitech/wastetech/guide/304m/upload/2006_12_27_guide_304m_2
006_tobacco-final.pdf
http://www.thecignal.com/tobacco-facts/shapes-and-forms/
http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/hems/tobacco/tobacco_products.pdf
http://yesmoke.eu/company/cigarette-production-technology/
http://www.intheknowzone.com/substance-abuse-topics/tobacco/what-is-tobacco.html
https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/436/436-050-08/PDF_Harvesting.pdf

University of St. La Salle

Bacolod City

Tobacco Industries
A Technical Report

In partial fulfillment
To the requirements of
Chemical Process Industries

Submitted by:
Blesy May G. Tolentino

Submitted to:
Engr. Marie Therese Sales

November 2015