Heat transfer analysis for the hydraulic circuit of an expresso-coffee machine

An Espresso-Coffee Machine supplies water which temperature must be confined within a narrow range in different operating conditions; this requires an accurate design at the component as well as the system level. In the present paper we develop a mathematical model to analyse the performances of the heating circuit of such a machine; our aim is to capture the main operating characteristics of the system with the maximum of simplicity. The governing equations of the model have been solved with the finite difference technique, and the first results have been compared with some experimental data.