A scaled-model experimental study on the thermodynamic characteristics of electronic cigarettes

•A scaled-model experimental setup of electronic cigarette was designed and built.•Average vaporization rate is linearly and positively correlated with heating power.•Effective thermal efficiency for PG was relatively higher than that of VG. Due to the limitations of encapsulation structure and small size, it is difficult to measure the atomization temperatures of electronic cigarettes. In order to explore the thermodynamic characteristics of electronic cigarettes more conveniently, we designed and built a scaled-model experimental setup based on similarity theory. The scaled-model experiment provided a new idea for the temperature measurements of electronic cigarettes. The thermodynamic natures of propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG) were analyzed from the view of thermophysical parameters. Under the same heating power and puffing topography condition, the temperature rising rate of VG was higher than that of PG at the later heating stage. The average vaporization rate and effective thermal efficiency of PG were relatively larger than those of VG. The effective thermal efficiency and average vaporization rate of PG and VG were linearly and positively correlated with the heating power in the range of 2∼10 W.