The Distribution of Gases within the Combustion Coal of a Cigarette

Measurements have been made of the distribution of temperature and low molecular weight gases within a burning cigarette, using a sampling probe coupled directly to a mass spectrometer (or Bosch carbon monoxide meter). The interior of the combustion coal is effectively an oxygen-deficient pyrolytic region. The oxides of carbon are produced in two distinct regions: a high-temperature (about 400-800°C) combustion region and a low- temperature (about 150-400°C) pyrolysis region. In the high-temperature coal the carbonised tobacco acts very much as a classical oxidizing solid fuel bed of carbon to give the two carbon oxides (and water). In the low-temperature region behind the coaI tobacco decomposes to give a substantiaI proportion of the carbon oxides and a major proportion of the hydrocarbons found in mainstream smoke.