The development in the field of refrigeration and cooling systems based on absorption cycles has attained its own internal dynamic in the last decade. A major obstacle for developing model is the lack of available component specifications. These specifications are commonly proprietary of the chiller's manufacturers and normally the available information is not sufficient. This work presented a double-effect parallel-flow-type steam absorption chiller model based on thermodynamic and energy equations. The chiller studied is 1250 RT (Refrigeration Tons) using lithium bromide -water as working pair. The mathematical equations that govern the operation of the steam absorption chiller are developed, and from the available design data the values of the overall heat transfer coefficient multiplied by the heat exchanger surface area and the characteristics of each component of the absorption chiller at the design point are calculated. For thermo physical and thermodynamic properties for lithium bromide-water solution, set of computationally efficient formulations are used. The model gives the required information about temperature, concentration, and flow rate at each state point of the system. The model calculates the heat load at each component as well as the performance of the system. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.