| abstract |
The invention concerns a method and apparatus for conditioning and/or drying or otherwise treating tobacco, in which cut tobacco is treated with a liquid and/or vapour medium in a chamber in which a columnar bed of the tobacco is maintained in a fluidized state by air, which may be heated. The treatment medium may comprise water, which is introduced as a spray into the bed and/or in co-current with the fluidizing air through diffusing means at the bottom of the bed, and/or steam. The tobacco may be treated in continuous flow or batchwise. |