Number Of Transfer Units Research Articles

Using the Log Mean Temperature Difference (LMTD) and ε-NTU Methods to Analyze Heat and Mass Transfer in Direct Contact Membrane Distillation.

In direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD), heat and mass transfers occur through the porous membrane. Any model developed for the DCMD process should therefore be able to describe the mass transport mechanism through the membrane, the temperature and concentration effects on the surface of the membrane, the permeate flux, and the selectivity of the membrane. In the present study, we developed a predictive mathematical model based on a counter flow heat exchanger analogy for the DCMD process. Two methods were used to analyze the water permeate flux across one hydrophobic membrane layer, namely the log mean temperature difference (LMTD) and the effectiveness-NTU methods. The set of equations was derived in a manner analogous to that employed for heat exchanger systems. The obtained results showed that the permeate flux increases by a factor of approximately 220% when increasing the log mean temperature difference by a factor of 80% or increasing the number of transfer units by a factor of 3%. A good level of agreement between this theoretical model and the experimental data at various feed temperatures confirmed that the model accurately predicts the permeate flux values for the DCMD process.

Effect of fluid property variations on the effectiveness of a cryogenic heat exchanger

AbstractCryogenic heat exchangers are commonly used for industrial processes, such as air separation and natural gas liquefaction. Generally, the performance of heat exchangers is analyzed adopting constant properties for the working fluid. But, in cryogenic heat exchangers, fluids reach their critical states with significant variations in their properties. The current work is based on the effect of fluid property variations in the performance analysis of a two‐fluid countercurrent cryogenic heat exchanger subject to ambient heat in a leak. Finite element method–subdomain method is used to conduct the performance analysis. The effect of fluid property variations is analyzed considering effectiveness, ∈, as the performance parameter. The percentage deviation in the effectiveness value on considering fluid property variation is determined. The relationship between effectiveness ∈ and the number of transfer units (NTUs) is obtained by plotting the ∈‐NTU curve by varying the mass flow rate of the fluid flow. A maximum deviation of 16.108% in the effectiveness and 58.734% in the hot fluid exit temperature is obtained by considering fluid property variation.

DESIGN OF A FIXED BED ADSORPTION COLUMN AND MODELLING OF OPERATING PARAMETERS FOR THE REMOVAL OF METHYLENE BLUE IN DYNAMIC MODE

This study investigates the potential of using the mixture of titaniferous sand and attapulgite as adsorbents in a fixed bed adsorption process to remove a synthetic dye such as methylene blue in aqueous media. The different adsorbents were characterised by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. The different physico-chemical parameters such as pH, zero charge potential, bulk and absolute density, porosity and specific surface area were determined. The sizing algorithm used resulted in a number of transfer units (NUT) equal to 20.109, a height of transfer unit (HUT) equal to 0.515, a material transfer coefficient (Kya) equal to 3.159 and a height of the column (Z) equal to 1.05m. The influence of different experimental parameters such as initial dye concentration, adsorbent bed height and feed rate on the breakthrough curve was investigated. Various simple mathematical models such as Adams-Bohart and Thomas were applied in order to study the dynamic behaviour of the column and to estimate some kinetic coefficients through the experimental data obtained from the dynamic studies performed on the fixed bed. The results showed that the Thomas and Adams-Bohart models perfectly describe the behaviour of the breakthrough curves with values of coefficients of determination R2 that are higher than 0.90 except for the concentration of the dye equal to 50mg/L which has a coefficient R2 equal to 0.88.

The energy saving potential of a new ventilation roof with stabilized phase change material in hot summer region

Roof is a weak part of the building envelope due to the high intensity of solar radiation in summer. Improving thermal performance of roof is crucial to reduce energy consumption. In this study, the thermal performance of a new ventilation roof with shape-stabilized phase change material (SPCM) is investigated. The dynamic heat transfer model for this roof is established by coupling the number of transfer units (NTU) heat exchange model with the resistance-capacity dynamic heat network model and used to analyse the heat transfer. The accuracy of the model is validated by experiment. The indoor air temperature, internal surface temperature of the roof, and cumulative cooling load in summer are simulated and analysed in Wuhan. The results show that PCM and night ventilation have great energy saving potential. When the 30 mm PCM is applied, the peak indoor air temperature and peak internal surface temperature decreased by 2.9 °C and 5.5 °C, respectively, and the cumulative cooling load of the building decreases by 19.2%. When night ventilation is applied (v = 3 m/s), the average latent heat utilization rate of the PCM layer increases, and the cumulative cooling load decreases by 22.9% and 37.5% compared with the PCM roof and the reference roof, respectively.

Numerical investigation on the thermal performance of cross‐cocurrent and countercurrent three fluid heat exchanger with flow maldistribution at the inlet

AbstractFlow maldistribution at the inlet of a heat exchanger (HX) is a significant parameter that needs to be considered to judge the performance of the same. In this paper, four arrangements of three‐fluid cross‐flow heat exchanger (3FCFHX) with different flow conditions are considered as shown in Figure 1 in which is the performance of cross‐countercurrent and cross‐cocurrent arrangements for uniform and flow maldistribution at the inlet. In addition, the effect of different inlet fluid flow models on the HX performance are investigated numerically. Among the three fluids in these arrangements, the central fluid is considered to be the hot fluid. From the principles of conservation of energy, the governing equations for three fluids are generated and solved using the finite element method. Four different inlet fluid‐flow models are considered for the analysis. Performance is judged using hot fluid effectiveness and the number of transfer units for a different range of governing parameters. The effects of inlet flow maldistribution (IFM) are measured using degradation factors. The results show that the performance of cross‐cocurrent arrangement is found to be superior to the cross‐countercurrent arrangement. In addition, the IFM enhances thermal performance. Further, it is determined that the flow maldistribution at the inlet will enhance the hot fluid effectiveness by 4%–4.5% and 1.8%–2% in cross‐cocurrent and countercurrent arrangements, respectively. The results give a thorough insight into the significant concerns involved in the design of such HXs. Application of the finite element method proves the ease of determining the exit temperatures of the fluids in the HX. This approach is indeed time‐saving and gives insights when compared to the CFD approach.

Structural design method, validation, and performance analysis of an earth-air heat exchanger for greenhouses

An earth-air heat exchanger (EAHE) is a type of environmental regulation equipment that is suitable for greenhouses. In the future, it could be a green technique for greenhouse energy supplementation. However, EAHEs lack structural design methods for application in greenhouses. Consequently, this paper presents a structural design method for an EAHE based on the architectural characteristics of greenhouses. Firstly, the EAHE design heat exchange amount was calculated according to the greenhouse heat and cold load, then the pipe length, diameter, air velocity, and burial depth were determined by combining the heat transfer efficiency and number of transfer units (NTU), and finally the final parameters were optimized and selected according to the energy loss and construction cost. The design method was validated in a greenhouse in northern China, and the heat transfer performance was analyzed in both intermittent and continuous operation modes. The results showed that the novel structural design method could guide the application of EAHE in a greenhouse and satisfy the energy demand of greenhouses. The measured average greenhouse temperature at night increased by 1.57 °C and 1.11 °C, respectively, under intermittent operation and continuous operation and decreased by 1.19 °C and 1.32 °C, respectively, during the day. The EAHE performance coefficients for heating and cooling conditions under intermittent operation were 21.49 and 18.15, respectively, significantly higher than those for continuous operation.

Modelling and implementation of an in-situ thermally regenerated adsorption module for removing gaseous xylene

The technology of in-situ thermally regenerated air purifiers (TRAP) can effectively recover adsorbents’ adsorption capacity, which is promising for low-concentration uncontinuous waste gas treatments in light pollution industries, such as furniture industries and tire factories. This study aims to provide a design model for the adsorption behaviours of the TRAP module under various practical situations in the furniture industry. We propose a dimensionless parameter (the Number of Mass Transfer Units, NTUm) to predict the one-pass efficiency. A TRAP module consisting of multiple flexible and thin adsorption boards was developed to validate the model experimentally. The polluted air with xylene flows through the module and is adsorbed by the boards. When the adsorption boards are saturated, the heating plate will be electrically heated to about 80 °C, releasing xylene from the boards and regenerating their adsorption performance. The modelling results agree with the experimental results., which indicate that the NTUm is a crucial and helpful parameter in enhancing the efficiency of the TRAP module.

Efficiency of liquid cooling in a turbulent bubbling layer on strainer plates

THE PURPOSE. Consider and solve the problem of determining the heat and mass exchange efficiency and design characteristics of bubble strainer plates during liquid phase cooling and gas heating. Simulate the process of contact evaporative cooling of water with air in turbulent bubble layer under foam mode.METHODS. The approach is used using heat and mass exchange numbers of transfer units, where coefficients of heat and mass transfer are calculated by criteria expressions or mathematical model. A differential equation for heat exchange in the liquid phase with an inter-phase heat source and a balance equation is written.RESULTS. There are known assumptions about the ideal displacement of the gas phase by the height of the gas-liquid layer. The article considers specific cases of recording of heat exchange equation in the form of cell model of liquid phase flow structure. The algorithm of determination of thermodynamic parameters at cooling water by air with calculation of profiles of water and air temperatures along the length of strained plate is given. Examples of calculation of temperature of cooled water and heated air with different flow structure and comparison with the similar process on the cooling tower model with regular mesh nozzle are shown. The conclusions about the effectiveness of bubble and nozzle devices are made. The presented mathematical model and calculation algorithm can be used in the design or modernization of barbotage devices in various industries and energy.

Experimental evaluation of heat transfer performance of double vertical coils and shell heat exchanger with altered inlet configuration under low-frequency ultrasound

The heat transfer and pressure drop of the water flow were investigated inside double vertical coils and a shell heat exchanger by altering the configuration of the inlet flow channel using two or four inlet ports under 28 kHz ultrasound. The inlet flow on the shell side was set at Reynolds numbers of 200, 400, or 600. The effects were examined of the altered position of activated ultrasonic transducers at P1–P9. The results showed that the Nusselt number on the shell side was enhanced by 11.6 % by modifying the inlet flow configuration from two to four channels. In addition, the heat transfer capability was boosted by approximately 9 % when the ultrasonic waves were irradiated into the heat exchanger. The relationship between effectiveness and the number of transfer units under ultrasound irradiation was also presented and discussed to simplify heat exchanger analysis. It showed that the waves enhanced the heat transfer capacity of the heat exchanger by up to 5.7 %. By altering the inlet configuration, the pressure drop on the shell side was reduced by 36.8–39.1 %, while ultrasonic waves only affected the pressure drop by less than 1 %. Using a performance evaluation criterion indicator, the performance of the ultrasonic heat exchangers could be improved by a maximum of 1.065 and 1.089 for two and four inlet ports, respectively. Additionally, the thermal efficiency of using ultrasound was evaluated, indicating that the ultrasonic effects resulted in a higher heat exchange performance than the supplied wave energy.

ANFIS based effectiveness and number of transfer units predictions of MWCNT/water nanofluids flow in a double pipe U-bend heat exchanger

In this study, the heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number, effectiveness and number of transfer units of water mixed multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanofluids passes through a tube-in-tube heat exchanger was experimentally investigated. Investigations were performed in the operating conditions of Reynolds number ranging from 3500 to 12000 and volume concentrations ranging from 0% to 0.3%, respectively. The obtained four parameters were predicted using adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The Reynolds number and particle volume loadings are the input data in artificial neural network analysis and heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number, effectiveness and number of transfer units is output or target. The Nusselt number, heat transfer coefficient, effectiveness, and number of transfer units was enhanced to 31.3%, 44.17%, 2.51% and 2.76% at φ = 0.3% and at a Re of 10005, against base fluid. Implementation of ANFIS with various quantities of neurons in the mid layer provides 1–10−6 with the correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.9978, and 0.9998 and root mean square error of 0.0018581, and 0.0014159 for heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number, respectively. The above developed structure has been successful in predicting 96% of variation in all the parameters.

Experimental investigation of the effect of air bubbles injection on the performance of a plate heat exchanger

• Air is injected in cold water to enhance the performance of plate heat exchanger . • A first PHEX performance test at various air and hot water flow rates is reported. • NTU and effectiveness are enhanced by up to 12.4 and 14.6 %, respectively. • Entropy generation rate increases up to 4.1 W/K with air bubble injection. • Witte-Shamsundar efficiency reaches a maximum of 96.9% for lowest water flow rate. Injection of sub-millimeter scale air bubbles into liquid flows has been recognized recently as an effective method for thermal performance enhancement of heat exchangers. However, no studies have been reported so far on air injection into the cold liquid stream of plate heat exchangers (PHEX). This approach is investigated experimentally in the present study for the first time in PHEXs to map the energetic and exergetic performance characteristics of a typical PHEXs in terms of the number of transfer units (NTU), effectiveness, entropy generation number, augmentation entropy generation number, rational effectiveness, and Witte-Shamsundar efficiency. Air (150–840 L/h) and hot water (280–880 L/h) streams are mixed in a T-junction mixing chamber before entering the PHEX as a two-phase flow. The results show a remarkable increase in NTU by up to 12.4% due to injected air bubbles, whereas the effectiveness increases by up to 14.6%. On the other hand, considerable increments in entropy generation rate are noticed, reaching a maximum of 4.1 W/K, but this increment was less than 3 folds for most examined cases. Overall, the Witte-Shamsundar efficiency, representing the combined energetic-exergetic performance, reached a maximum of 96.9% at air and hot water flow rates of 350 and 280 L/h, respectively.

Experimental study on regenerative effectiveness and flow characteristics of parallel-plate regenerator in Stirling engine

Regenerator is the critical component of the Stirling engine. Its performance directly affects the efficiency of the whole engine. The heat transfer and flow characteristics of the parallel-plate regenerator (PPR) are experimentally investigated, and the influences of material and geometric parameters on regenerative effectiveness and pressure drop are obtained. The results show that the axial heat conduction will reduce the regenerative effectiveness of the PPR. The higher the thermal conductivity of the plate, the lower the regenerative effectiveness. Larger plate thickness and smaller plate length will also increase the axial heat conduction loss. The PPR shows good flow characteristics. The comparative experiment with the wire mesh regenerator shows that its friction coefficient is much lower than that of the wire mesh regenerator. Through the comprehensive index NPH/NTU defined as the ratio of number of pressure heads (NPH) to number of transfer units (NTU), the overall performances of PPR and wire mesh regenerator are compared. The results show that the PPR has better working performance. To reduce the adverse effect of axial heat conduction on the PPR, the optimization experiment was carried out by segmenting the regenerator into several sections. The results show that the regenerative effectiveness of the segmented PPR is increased by 20%, while the increase of pressure drop is within an acceptable range.

Numerical investigation of lamella heat exchanger for engine intake charge air cooling utilizing refrigerant as coolant medium

Intercooler heat exchangers (IHE) are used to improve engine charge air temperature, which enhances engine efficiency and reduces emissions. The current study introduces a novel intercooler heat exchanger designed to improve combustion and engine performance by providing cold intake air. Lamella heat exchanger is proposed, based on space availability in existing engines, operated as an evaporator utilizing a refrigeration unit, the same used for vehicle compartment cooling. A numerical investigation is carried out for a 1.496 L naturally aspirated engine at rpm 4000, 5000, and 6000. The intake air temperature is taken as 45 °C to examine the proposed four models: model A, model B, model C & model D bearing aspect ratios of 21.6 mm, 27 mm, 36 mm & 43.2 mm, respectively. The study aims to obtain high heat transfer with minimal pressure loss. For that, the evaluation criteria for all models are heat transfer, temperature drop, number of transfer units, logarithmic mean temperature difference, and pressure drop. As a result, all models under consideration are ranked from high to low; model D, model C, model B, and model A. The maximum heat transfer of 1.55 KW and the maximum temperature drop of 24.06 °C are observed for model D at rpm of 6000 and 4000, respectively. Likewise, the maximum pressure drop is recorded for model D at all rpm ranges; still, the pressure drop for model D is less than 28 % of the reference model used in this study at 6000 rpm. The simulated results indicate that all evaluation parameters except LMTD are directly proportional to the aspect ratio of the lamella. Due to their compactness, the proposed heat exchanger designs offer more surface area per unit volume, resulting in higher thermal capacity than the other conventional intercooler heat exchangers.

Axial conduction in cross-flow heat exchangers: An analytical approach to the coupled heat transfer problem

Cross-flow heat exchangers are widely used in the process intensification and air separation industry. Its miniaturized versions are touted to be especially useful for aircraft heat exchange, portable cooling systems, and micro-combustion chambers for fuel cells. The desired thermal effect is often obtained in a cross-flow heat exchanger of a shorter length leading to a lower pressure drop penalty. Although miniaturization leads to high heat transfer to volume ratio, the low flow rates and large solid cross-section area to fluid free-flow area ratio might lead to intense axial conduction. Standard mathematical models for macro-scale exchangers neglect this effect and must be modified for micro-scale applications. While the analytical models are available for the counter-current exchanger, a similar analytical tool is missing for the cross-flow device. The present work attempts to develop such a tool, wherein, unlike previous attempts, a three-dimensional modelling approach is undertaken. The unique flow configuration in the cross-flow system necessitates this modification if both axial conduction and thermal resistance of the separating wall (missing in earlier two-dimensional attempts) are to be simultaneously tackled. The developed model can handle both balanced and unbalanced flows. Validations have been performed using conjugate computational studies (with exact geometry and solved in COMSOL), a simplified numerical model, and by comparison with some of the standard cross-flow expressions in the limit of no axial conduction. Results are presented in the form of three-dimensional temperature profiles, effectiveness-NTU (number of transfer units), and conduction effect factor curves for different flow and geometric configurations. It is found that the balanced cross-flow exchanger can experience performance deterioration of ∼45% at low flow rates. The fast convergence of the proposed theory allows it to be nested in heat exchanger optimization routines, where a detailed computational step would have led to prohibitive computational costs.

Detailed evaluation of a heat exchanger in terms of effectiveness and second law

In this study, experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of semicircular strip turbulators placed in the inner tube of a concentric heat exchanger on its exergy loss rate (E*) and effectiveness (e). The Reynolds number (Re), pitch (p), diameter (d), thickness (t) and arrangement style (a) were the design parameters for the study. The changes in these parameters had significant effects on exergy loss rate and effectiveness compared to the results found with the smooth empty tube. The results of the study are given graphically as the change in the exergy loss rate and the change in effectiveness with the number of transfer units (NTU). The largest exergy loss rate and effectiveness values were found to be 0.263 and 0.556, respectively. It was concluded that the effectiveness of the heat exchanger increased with increasing NTU, while the exergy loss rate is decreased. Since the increase in effectiveness will mean an increase in heat transfer, it can also cause an increase in irreversibility. For this reason, multi-performance characteristics have been determined since evaluating the effectiveness together with the exergy loss rate caused by irreversibility will provide more realistic results. Thus, the optimum parameter combination was found, where the maximum effectiveness and the smallest exergy loss rate values were obtained. Finally, the artificial neural network (ANN) model of the study was created and the hyperparameters of the model were determined by the Bayesian optimisation method. In the created ANN model, MSE and R values of effectiveness and exergy loss rate were found as 5.3238e-04, 2.18177e-06 and 0.963, 0.998, respectively. According to these results, it has been confirmed that the proposed ANN model can be used successfully in the modelling of the heat exchanger.

Numerical Investigation and Experimental Verification of the Fluid Cooling Process of Typical Stator–Rotor Machinery with a Plate-Type Heat Exchanger

This paper discusses the heat transfer process for a typical stator–rotor machinery-hydrodynamic retarder from the perspective of computational fluid dynamics and experimental means. Fluid cooling is an essential step in the working process of hydrodynamic retarders, and changes in viscosity along with temperature rise will affect the performance of braking. To investigate the heat transfer process of stator–rotor machinery, a novel computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, combined with a dynamic thermophysical property transfer algorithm, is proposed. A heat-flow coupling numerical method with experimental verification is proposed, in which the density and the viscosity are variable with the temperature in an effectiveness–number of transfer units (P-NTU) method. The results show that the numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental data, with a 0.1–2.5% error. The influence of an asymmetric structure on heat transfer characteristics is discussed. The results show that the optimal braking performance, along with the liquid cooling performance, is achieved under outlets with an inlet passage set as 90 degrees.

Heat transfer in the regenerative heat exchanger

This paper tackles the issue of frost formation in non-hygroscopic rotary heat exchangers used for energy recovery from exhaust air under high-speed rotor conditions by means of numerical simulations and experimental approaches. On the basis of some idealized assumptions, a frost growth submodel is presented to predict the behavior of the rotary heat exchanger under frosting conditions. Frost formation is modeled by considering the mass diffusion of water vapor through the frost layer, taking into account supersaturation phenomena. Calculations were carried out using a three-zone model based on the modified ε-NTU method. The local heat transfer coefficient and the NTU calculation method resulting from the influence of the heat exchanger entrance region were also applied. The obtained correlations for the temperature effectiveness agree with the simulation data within uncertainty bounds. The results of the numerical simulations allowed us to determine the outdoor air conditions that initiated the frost accumulation phenomenon inside the thermal wheel for two values of return air relative humidity: RH2i=20% and RH2i=40%. In both cases, the threshold temperature for unsafe operating conditions increases with increasing relative humidity of the outdoor air. Under ‘frost accumulation’ operating conditions, the frost growth rate is approximately five times higher at RH2i=40% than at RH2i=20%. In this regard, the need to implement frost protection techniques increases significantly with an increase in relative humidity of return airflow. Further analysis conducted for the operation of a thermal wheel’s operation under frosting conditions revealed that a latent heat flux contributed to the local frost density should not be neglected in a compact heat exchanger’s model. Interestingly, the operation time of the rotary heat exchanger, and hence the growth of the thickness of the frost layer, has a significant influence on a local heat transfer coefficient α, however, it does not affect the Number of Transfer Units (NTU) visibly.

Genetic algorithm for the design and optimization of a shell and tube heat exchanger from a performance point of view

A new approach to optimize the design of a shell and tube heat exchanger (STHX) is developed via a genetic algorithm (GA) to get the optimal configuration from a performance point of view. The objective is to develop and test a model for optimizing the early design stage of the STHX and solve the design problem quickly. GA is implemented to maximize heat transfer rate while minimizing pressure drop. GA is applied to oil cooler type OKG 33/244, and the results are compared with the original data of the STHX. The simulation outcomes reveal that the STHX's operating performance has been improved, indicating that GA can be successfully employed for the design optimization of STHX from a performance standpoint. A maximum increase in the effectiveness achieves 57% using GA, while the achieved minimum increase is 47%. Furthermore, the average effectiveness of the heat exchanger is 55%, and the number of transfer units (NTU) has improved from 0.475319 to 1.825664 by using GA.

Predicting and optimizing the heat transfer performance of radiator with functionalized graphene nanofluids

AbstractAccurately predicting the heat transfer characteristics of coolants used in thermal management of energy systems like heat exchangers, power electronics, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning is indispensable in maintaining its operating conditions within safety limits. Apart from safety, factors such as power consumption and operating cost are the most important constraints to be considered in designing an energy‐efficient and cost‐effective cooling solution. In this study, the experimental data available from previous research on the use of functionalized graphene‐based nanofluids in compact heat exchangers such as the automotive radiator is used to optimize the heat transfer performance parameters like Nusselt number of the nanofluid, the friction factor, and effectiveness of the heat exchanger. A supervised machine learning technique like the artificial neural network is used to obtain the objective functions of the response variables in terms of input features such as Reynolds number, Prandtl number, the volume concentration of nanoparticles in the base fluid, number of transfer units, heat capacity, the density of nanofluid, pressure drop and velocity. On the current dataset, it is found that by using the Bayesian regularization training algorithm and tangent sigmoidal activation function in the neural network, the best accuracies in the prediction can be achieved. Well‐known nature‐inspired optimization algorithms like genetic algorithms and simulated annealing are used in optimizing the above‐mentioned response variables. Both algorithms converged to the same values of the objective functions. The optimum values of Nusselt number, effectiveness, and friction factor are 105.65, 0.506, and 0.0038, respectively, for the given composition of the nanofluid and radiator configuration.

Simulation of an ammonia-water absorption cycle using exchanger effectiveness

• NH 3 /H 2 O absorption chiller modeling based on exchanger effectiveness. • Tuning of the numerical model on experimental results. • Comparison of simplified and effectiveness-based modeling. • Characterization of performance for changing operating conditions. • Parametric study changing the size of components. This paper presents the numerical simulation of an efficient ammonia-water single-stage absorption chiller integrating a new combined desorber, able to produce and purify the refrigerant vapor. An experimental campaign was conducted on the pilot plant by varying the main operating parameters, namely the temperatures of external sources and the mass flow rate of the working fluid. Direct experimental measures were analyzed and indirect calculation of other physical quantities was used for tuning of the numerical models. First, a simplified model of the cycle was developed, based on fixed effectiveness and pinch temperatures. Absolute values and tendencies outside nominal working conditions were not sufficiently accurate to predict the performance of the cycle even at the small scale, so more accurate modeling was undertaken. Accordingly, components were characterized by effectiveness, modeled using three operating parameters: the Jakob number ( Ja ), the number of transfer units ( NTU ) and the energetic ratio ( R en ). The small average errors for calculated effectiveness confirm that these parameters are well suited for the application studied. Global cycle model results showed errors compared to experimental results below 6% for the COP and 15% for the cooling power output. The tuned model was used to perform a parametric analysis on the dimension of the components, highlighting the performance improvements/reductions obtainable by increasing/decreasing their size. The use of dimensionless parameters makes this approach well suited for analysis at larger scales of industrial interest, the development of more complex or combined cycles as well as to perform techno-economic or exergo-economic analysis.