Abstract: In order to simulate cut tobacco drying in a primary processing line exactly,a laboratory cut tobacco cylinder dryer was designed based on the working principle of thin plate cylinder dryer.The designed dryer was mainly composed of a bracket,a drying cylinder,a frequency conversion drive system,a heating temperature control system and a moisture exhaust system.Cylinder wall temperature was controlled via a heater,a heat insulation layer and an automatic temperature control system;cylinder's rotational speed was regulated by a frequency conversion motor;and the wet air was exhausted through moisture exhaust system.The inlet and outlet of tobacco were combined into one,and the bracket structure was designed so as to facilitate drying cylinder tipping and accelerate tobacco discharging.Taking the cut rags of brand "Gold leaf(Dajinyuan)" as experimental material,three drying devices,laboratory cylinder dryer,electric oven and thin plate cylinder dryer(the control),were compared in terms of physical properties and sensory quality of dried tobacco.The results showed that:1) The filling value of cut strips dried by laboratory cylinder dryer was 4.54 cm³/g and that of the control was 4.62 cm³/g,the elasticity,crimpness and loosening degree of the two were close,and the consistent rate of sensory quality between them reached 68%,which satisfied the requirements of sensory quality consistency for cigarettes.2) The filling value of cut strips dried by electric oven was 4.02 cm³/g,and the sensory quality of the same was slightly worse.3) The performance of laboratory cylinder dryer was close to that of thin plate cylinder dryer.