The latest addition to our heated tobacco products is the Oven Heating System (OHS) commercialized as BONDS by IQOS. The OHS heats the tobacco using ROUNDHEAT TOBACCO SYSTEM™, a blade-free heating technology. The name of the tobacco stick to be used with BONDS is BLENDS. Because the tobacco is heated and not burned, the levels of harmful chemicals in the generated aerosol are significantly reduced compared with cigarette smoke.
When fully charged, OHS delivers up to 20 experiences, including three consecutive uses. No cleaning is required due to the lack of blade, allowing for improved user experience.
The heating system is located inside the heating chamber of the device and includes an external resistive heater made of flexible polyimide stainless-steel tracks wrapped around a stainless-steel tube. The heating chamber is completed by the addition of a temperature sensor, known as a resistance temperature detector or RTD, and a shrink tube that sits around the heater assembly to improve the overall robustness.
A specially designed tobacco stick, known as a heated tobacco unit (HTU), is inserted from the top of the device into the stainless-steel tube within the heating chamber. When the device is turned on, the HTU is heated externally by the electronically controlled resistive heater. The design of the HTU and the heating chamber ensures that the resistive heater is positioned around the tobacco plug found within the HTU.
In addition to managing battery charging and user interface, the control electronics continuously monitor the heater's temperature to prevent it from heating above the maximum target heating temperature of 250 °C on average. To achieve this, the RTD measures the temperature at the external surface of the heating chamber, in the region where the temperature is the highest.
The target heating temperature of the heater refers to the pre-programmed temperature profile of the integrated RTD, which continuously monitors the temperature during operation and is used as basis for temperature regulation.
A specifically formulated heated tobacco unit (HTU) for heating and not smoking, includes the tobacco plug cut in small pieces. When heated a nicotine-containing aerosol (tobacco vapor) is created.
Positioned behind the tobacco plug, a cardboard tube serves as a structural component and features air inlet holes. The HTU also has a front plug to improve the cleanliness of the heating chamber and prevent misuse should anyone try to light it.
When the user puffs from the mouthpiece, air enters the base of the device and travels to the front plug of the HTU, where the airflow enables the release of the vapors from the heated tobacco plug. Subsequently, the vapors are rapidly mixed with fresh air entering the inner chamber of the cardboard tube through the air inlet holes. This promotes a rapid temperature drop, resulting in the formation of the aerosol.
The aerosol generated by the OHS contains on average 95% lower levels of harmful chemicals compared with cigarettes. However, this does not mean a 95% reduction in risk. The OHS is not risk free and contains nicotine, which is addictive.
The PMI approach to substantiate reduced emissions consumer-facing product statement is based on the WHO 9 list. The WHO 9 was selected, because it allows to provide consumers with accurate and non-misleading information while improving the consistency of the messages across product categories and aligning with industry practices. Furthermore, this approach enables consumers to make educated and informed decisions about the products available on the market including product properties, benefits, and risks.
