The study presented here offers an analysis of the heat flow through the wall of the Yankee cylinder when regarded as a thin-walled vessel. The effect of the selected design and process parameters (i.e. cylinder diameter and steam pressure) on density of the heating stream has been analyzed and discussed for both cast iron and steel cylinders. Based on the work presented here, the optimal ranges for steam pressure have been derived and proposed for cylinders mounted at various locations within the drying section.