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311-355 (1997)
Endoreversible Thermodynamics
Karl Heinz Homann, Josef Maximilian Burzler,
and Sven Schubert
Institut fur Physik, Technische Universitat,
D-09107 Chemnitz, Germany
Communicated by B. Andresen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Abstract
All energy transformation processes occurring in reality are irreversible and
in many cases these irreversibilities must be included in a realistic description of
such processes. Endoreversible thermodynamics is a non-equilibrium approach in
this direction by viewing a system as a network of internally reversible (endore-
versible) subsystems exchanging energy in an irreversible fashion. All irreversibili-
ties are conned to the interaction between the subsystems. In this review a general
framework for the endoreversible description of a system is presented, followed by
a discussion of the performance of such systems. Thereafter the scope of the re-
view is narrowed to time-independent stationary or cyclicly operating systems. We
present the endoreversible theory of heat engines, and give an overview over the dif-
ferent heat transfer laws used in the entropy interactions between the subsystems.
Also engine cycles dierent from the Carnot cycle and internal irreversibilities as
well as the design optimization for such systems are discussed. These aspects are
also important in the description of refrigerators and heat pumps which follows.
Then combined and staged systems comprising several subsystems and their per-
formance are reviewed and we conclude with a presentation of selected applications
of endoreversible thermodynamics.
1. Introduction
We are living in a world full of heat engines, refrigerators and other energy transforma-
tion devices. Even life can be regarded as special form of energy transformation. The
understanding of these devices and of the processes they perform have been central to
our technological development in the past and will be of equally great importance for
our future development.
Equilibriumthermodynamics as it evolved during the 19th century has provided a macro-
scopic theory for the description of these thermodynamic systems. However, it puts its
focus more on the states rather than on the processes occuring between the states. In
doing so it became a powerful theory, but the prize to be paid till today is that more
often than not processes are understood as a (quasi-static) sequence of equilibria ne-
glecting irreversibilities. This idea of reversible processes is however at variance with
the experience that in everyday live the processes occuring are not reversible, and {
more important { are not designed to be reversible, because the desired nite rates for
the energy transformation require nite and thus irreversible
uxes.
1
During the years there have been a number of attempts in engineering and physics to
overcome this view, and one of the non-equilibrium thermodynamic elds, which devel-
oped during the last 20 years, has been labeled endoreversible thermodynamics [1,2].
The basic idea of the eld is to describe a non-equilibrium system as a collection of
equilibrium systems, such that all the irreversibilities occuring in a process are due to
the interaction between those subsystems. This approach is certainly supported by the
observation that in our surroundings we can indeed nd subsystems which can to a good
approximation be treated as equilibrium systems. In addition, all the power of conven-
tional equilibrium thermodynamics can be used for the description of the subsystems,
while at the same time dissipative processes are no longer neglected.
Most of the work published in the eld of endoreversible thermodynamics has been fo-
cused on determining performance predictions for heat engines and other energy trans-
formation devices which include the necessary irreversibilities caused by nite transfor-
mation rates. The approach is thus closely connected to nite time thermodynamics
[3{10], which originally put its focus on the inclusion of dissipative eects caused by
nite time or nite rate operation. In that eld the very idea of endoreversibility has
often been used [6,11{15] to describe the systems under consideration, but also other
modeling assumptions have been made [5,16]. Here, we shall conne ourselves to en-
doreversible systems in the original sense, with two narrow exceptions which will become
apparent later.
2
1100.0
0.0 100.0200.0300.0400.0500.0600.0700.0800.0900.01000.0
TH TH
qH
Temperature T
K TiH
2 3
TiH
P 1 4
TL
qL
TiL=TL -3 2 7
Entropy S
1e+01
Fig. 1 : Model of the endoreversible Novicov engine with nite heat conduction K to the high
temperature heat reservoir (left). TS-diagram of a Carnot cycle with a temperature dierence
to the high temperature heat reservoir (right).
3
from the endoreversibility of the Carnot engine. As the engine operates continuously in
a steady state, all the energy
uxes have to balance
0 = qH ? qL ? P: (3)
In addition, as the engine operates reversibly the entropy
uxes to and from the engine
have to cancel
0 = TqH ? TqL : (4)
iH iL
Solving now for P we obtain
T iL
P = qH 1 ? T = K(TH ? TiH ) 1 ? T : T L (5)
iH iH
For given temperatures of the heat baths and given K, the
ow of heat through the
engine and the power produced by the inner Carnot engine will depend only on the
operating temperatures of the Carnot engine. As TH and TL are xed, the only control
to in
uence the overall performance of the endoreversible engine is TiH , and we nd the
power P as a function of TiH only. Equation (5) alone is thus characterizing the entire
endoreversible Novicov engine with Newtonian heat conduction.
The maximum power is determined by dierentiation with respect to TiH
dP TH
0 = dT = K T 2 ? 1 ; T L (6)
iH iH
p
from which we nd TiH = TH TL . Operating with this temperature the maximum
power is p p 2
Pmax = K TH ? TL (7)
and the eciency in terms of the bath temperatures is
r
(Pmax ) = 1 ? TTiL = 1 ? TTL : (8)
iH H
The reader should note the remarkable fact that this eciency does not depend on the
size of the heat conductance K. Also note that this eciency is not a bound for heat
engines operating not at the maximum power point.
This simple example has shown how with a relatively modest eort new and interesting
results can be obtained for the performance of heat engines operating out of equilibrium.
The basic quantities to describe the system were the energy and entropy
uxes, the
temperatures and the heat conductance. The underlying reason for the simplicity of our
derivation is the basic assumption of endoreversibility, which allows to make use of the
Gibbs equation for the internally reversible working
uid leading to the coupled balance
equations for energy and entropy.
4
and transport equations have to be combined. In that the task is similar to the descrip-
tion of an electrical network, where dierent elements are connected and the Kirchho
rules are used to determine the relation between the currents and voltages.
For an endoreversible system things are a bit more complicated, for energy is not the
only exchanged quantity. In each interaction between subsystems energy is accompanied
by another quantity, be it for instance entropy, momentum or a particle
ux. This leads
to the special structure of endoreversible systems, which we will present below.
5
For instance any heat
ux q is carried by an entropy
ux q=T, or an angular momentum
ux M (torque) carries an energy
ux !M, where ! is the angular velocity.
3.2.1 Reservoirs
A reservoir is a thermodynamic system in equilibrium, characterized by either
a) given intensities Yi. This is the case for innite reservoirs where the in
ux of an
extensity does not change the value of the intensity. In the introductory example
both heat baths were of this type.
b) its extensities Xi and its energy function Ei(Xi ). Then the intensities are known
Yi = @Ei =@Xi , and due to its internal equilibrium they are uniform throughout
the subsystem and thus the contact intensities Yi;1 = Yi;2 = : : : Yi are equal
for all r. From the balance equations for the extensities and the energy one nds
X
X_ i = Ji;r (15)
r
and X X X X
E_ i = Ii;r = Yi;r Ji;r = Yi Ji;r ; (16)
;r ;r r
where we have assumed that the extensities are neither destroyed nor produced
within a subsystem.
6
3.2.2 Engines
An engine is a reversible subsystem, for which the contact variables are related by special
balance requirements for the extensities and the energy. For an engine operating in a
steady state one requires X
0 = Ji;r (17)
r
and X X
0= Ii;r = Yi;r Ji;r ; (18)
;r ;r
while for cyclic engines with cycle time ttot
Z ttot X
0= dt Ji;r (19)
0 r
and Z ttot X Z ttot X
0= dt Ii;r = dt Yi;r Ji;r (20)
0 ;r 0 ;r
holds. Note that for the endoreversible engine one does not need to know the equations of
state for its working
uid. In the introductory example equations (3) and (4) correspond
to equations (18) and (17), respectively.
can be either reversible or irreversible, and can be either of the two following cases:
a) All the contact intensities ; 2
obey Y = Y . In the above discussed Novicov
engine the interaction between the engine and the lower heat bath is of this type.
b) The interaction is dened by a transport law which gives either the
ux of the
extensity
J = J (fY! g; fXig; zm ) (21)
or the corresponding
ux of the energy
I = I (fY! g; fXig; zm ) (22)
at each of the involved contacts as functions of the intensities, the extensities (for
reservoirs) and of additional external parameters zm , which are counted by m.
These parameters are mentioned here explicitly, as they will be used as 'controls'
to adjust the
uxes in optimizing the performance of endoreversible systems.
7
To explain the case b we consider three examples:
Heat conduction between two heat baths.
In the above discussed Novicov engine the interaction of the engine to the upper heat
bath is of this type. Here two entropy contacts are coupled such that the heat
ux (1) is
a function of the two bath temperatures, and K is an external parameter. The entropy
uxes do not balance as the transport is irreversible.
Particle exchange.
Let us consider a conserved particle
ow J from one reservoir (contact 1) to another
(contact 2) due to a dierence in the chemical potentials :
J = ?J1 = J2 = h(1 ? 2 ) : (23)
If we assume that the energy
ux taken from contact 1 but not deposited in 2
I = I1 ? I2 = J(1 ? 2 ) (24)
is dissipated to heat and put into an entropy contact 3 we have
I3 = J(1 ? 2) (25)
and the entropy
ux created is
J3 = J(1T? 2) : (26)
3
8
3.3 The characterization of endoreversible systems
Collecting the dierent elements introduced above, we nd that an endoreversible system
is described by its contact variables and the extensities of the reservoirs. If the system
does not contain nite capacity reservoirs, then the extensities of the reservoirs can be
excluded from the description. Usually some of the contact variables and extensities
will be given, for instance the temperatures of some heat bath, while others remain
undetermined. They are however not completely free, as all of them are related by
constraints due to
{ the Gibbs relation at each contact
{ the balance equations in the reservoirs
{ the balance equations in the engines
{ the interactions.
Thus an endoreversible system is completely characterized by this set of algebraic and
ordinary dierential equations relating its contact variables and reservoir extensities.
9
3.3.2 Simplifying the description by eliminating contact variables
To further simplify the characterization of the system one often tries to reduce the
number of variables by eliminating some of them explicitly using the given constraints.
In our above example we did this by solving for the power P which nally depends only
on the temperature TiH .
10
initial state (apart from the changes in the reservoirs) is divided into several branches b
of duration tb X
ttot = tb : (30)
b
The simplest case is the one in which all the contact variables remain constant during
one branch. This case includes the important Carnot cycle of an engine coupled to two
innite heat baths.
In the cyclic case each contact is assigned b triples of contact variables (Y;b; X;b =
tbJ;b ; E;b = tbI;b ), each obeying E;b = Y;bX;b , and the balance equations for
an engine subsystem become XX
0= ;r
Xi;b (31)
b r
and XX ;r :
0= Ei;b (32)
b ;r
Usually most of the
uxes will vanish, as the interaction { for instance the heat conduc-
tion from a reservoir to the engine { operates only during one or two of the branches.
11
4.3.2 Eciency
For a heat engine producing power P from an input heat
ow q, or producing an amount
of work W from an amount of heat Q in one cycle the eciency is dened as
= Pq = WQ: (33)
De Vos [26] denotes this standard eciency as `exhaustible energy conversion eciency'
to distinguish it from the `renewable eciency' [26], which is of importance in the context
of renewable energy conversion, as for instance in solar thermal power plants. The
renewable eciency r is dened as the ratio of the work output W and the maximal
amount of heat Qmax which could be extracted from the heat source if it was linked
directly to the low temperature sink, i.e.
r = W=Qmax : (34)
12
4.3.5 Ecological performance measure
An ecological performance measure for heat engines has been proposed by Angulo-Brown
[35,36]. The criterion combines the power P and the entropy generation rate of the power
plant , and maximizes the function
E = P ? TL (38)
where TL is the heat sink temperature.
Angulo-Brown considers the criterion as a long-range goal in the sense that it is com-
patible with ecological objectives. Optimizing the Curzon{Ahlborn heat engine using
the ecological criterion gave 80% of the maximum power but only 30% of the entropy
production that one would get if using power alone as objective function. The corre-
sponding eciency of the engine is almost equal to an engine optimized for maximum
power output alone. The ecological criterion was also used for modeling the standard
air Otto cycle [37] yielding similar results.
13
TH
KH QH
TiH
5. Heat engines
Heat engines producing power from a heat
ow have been central to the development of
endoreversible thermodynamics, and a large fraction of the literature is devoted to them.
In this section we will bring the formal description of endoreversible thermodynamics
to life by applying it to the Curzon{Ahlborn engine [45], a famous `work horse' in this
eld. In this model the only irreversibilities are due to the heat transfer.
We then present the eects of dierent heat transfer laws, of heat leaks, and of internal
irreversibilities (though this violates in principle the endoreversibility assumption) on
the performance of endoreversible engines, and we discuss engine cycles other than the
Carnot cycle.
14
Pmax
0.20
Power
0.10
ηmax
Fig. 3: Power vs. eciency plot
0.00
for an endoreversible Curzon{
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 Ahlborn engine with nite heat
Efficiency η transfer.
The balance equation of the carrier (31), i.e. the entropy, can be written as
0 = SH ? SL = TQH ? TQL (44)
iH iL
if we take into account that no entropy is transported through a work contact.
The goal is now to determine the maximum work W per cycle (which also maximizes
the maximum average power output as the total cycle time is xed) and the eciency at
that operating point. Instead of following the original work of Curzon and Ahlborn [45]
we present here another derivation due to Gordon et al. [46], in which the optimal time
allocation for the branches separates nicely from determining the optimal temperatures
for the Carnot engine.
Let us rst dene = TiL =TiH . Using (43) and (44) we obtain for the work
W = QH(1 ? ) = KH tH (TH ? TiH )(1 ? ) : (45)
From (40), (41), and (44) follows
=Q QL = KL tL (TiL ? TL ) = KL tL(TiH ? TL ) : (46)
H KH tH (TH ? TiH ) KH tH (TH ? TiH )
Solving (46) for TiH and inserting into (45) yields
W = (1 ? )(TH ? ?1 TL) KKHt K+L tKHtLt = CTH 1C?? (47)
HH LL
where we introduced the eciencies
C = 1 ? TL=TH (48)
= 1 ? TiL =TiH = 1 ? (49)
and ?1 ?1
C = K 1t + K 1t = K 1t + K (t 1 ? t ) : (50)
HH LL HH L tot H
A plot of the average power P = W=(ttot versus eciency characteristics (47) is depicted
in Figure 3.
One can obtain the maximum work point by setting both (@W=@)tH and (@W=@tH )
equal to zero. Since C depends on tH and not on the problem factorizes as mentioned
above.
15
The condition (@W=@tH ) = 0 gives a relation between the branch times and the con-
ductances: p
tH=tL = KL =KH : (51)
The condition (@W=@)tH = 0 leads to the Curzon{Ahlborn eciency
p
(Pmax ) = CA = 1 ? TL =TH (52)
at maximum work, which is obtained by inserting (52) and (51) into (47)
Wmax = ttot ?p KH KpL 2 TH ? TL :
p p 2
(53)
KH + KL
Note that Wmax still depends on the conductances KH and KL .
The Curzon{Ahlborn eciency is much closer to observed eciencies than the corre-
sponding Carnot eciencies [30,45]. Nonetheless a careful analysis of the dissipative
processes as well as of the optimization goals in real engines remain important [47].
5.1.2 Power-optimal design
We now turn to the problem of the optimal allocation of heat exchangers KH and KL
to the hot and cold thermal coupling for a given heat exchanger inventory [43,48{50]:
Ktot = KH + KL (54)
This constraint is used to substitute KH in (53), which leads to the optimality condition
for maximum work
@Wmax =@KL = 0 : (55)
A simple calculation results in the optimal allocation of the conductances
KH;opt = KL;opt = Ktot =2 (56)
and the optimized work
Wmax = ttot K8tot TH ? TL
p p 2
(57)
Note that dierences to results in the literature are due to dierences between steady
state and cyclic operation.
Often, the conductance K = A is dened as the product of the surface area A of
the contact and the conductivity . Then for given conductivities H and L the heat
exchanger areas AH andpAL can beppower-optimally allocated for the constraint Atot =
AH + AL . The result is HAH = L AL [51].
16
5.2.1 Newton
The so-called Newton heat transfer law has already been used in this paper. It assumes
that the
ow of heat q is proportional to the temperature dierence between two contacts
1 and 2
q = K(T1 ? T2 ) : (58)
Heat
ux in solids can be well approximated by a linear heat transfer law. But the
Newtonian heat transfer may also be applied to other heat transfer mechanisms like
convection if the temperature dierences are small, as a dominating linear term fre-
quently occurs in the Taylor expansion of more general, non-linear heat transfer laws.
Due to its simplicity the Newton heat transfer law is widely used and many authors have
studied the performance of endoreversible engines, coolers and heaters based on such a
linear heat transfer law [1{3,5,6, 32,45,52{60].
5.2.2 Fourier
For the Fourier heat transfer law the heat
ux q is proportional to the dierence of the
inverse temperatures,
q = K(1=T2 ? 1=T1) (59)
where K is an Onsager coecient. This form of heat transfer is often found in con-
junction with linear irreversible thermodynamics, as there the dierence of the inverse
temperatures is the force corresponding to the heat
ux.
The Fourier heat conduction law has been used in endoreversible systems [61], like the
Curzon{Ahlborn model for example. If the Fourier heat transfer law is used in both heat
exchangers of the Curzon{Ahlborn model, the analysis [62,63] shows that the eciency
at maximum power output
p
(Pmax ) = [1 + KH =KL](1p? TL =TH ) (60)
2 + (1 + TL =TH) KH =KL
depends on the external temperatures and the Onsager coecients. But still the depen-
dence is only on their ratio KH =KL not on both KH and KL separately.
In the limit KL =KH ! 1 the Curzon{Ahlborn model reduces to the Novikov model
with a Fourier heat transfer law. In this case the eciency
(Pmax ) = 21 1 ? TTL (61)
H
depends on external temperatures only [26].
For the special case KH = KL the eciency becomes [64]
(Pmax ) = 1 ? 13++3T L =TH
TL =TH : (62)
5.2.3 Radiation
Electromagnetic radiation from a hot body like the sun can serve as a source of heat
for heat engines and heat-driven refrigerators. For some systems, in particular those
operating at high temperatures, radiation is the major transfer mechanism for heat.
17
Radiative heat transfer is typically described by the Stefan-Boltzmann law for black-
body radiation, and the heat
ux between two radiating bodies at temperature T1 and
T2 is given by
q = K1 T14 ? K2 T24 : (63)
The coecients K are proportional to the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, the emittances of
the two radiating bodies, and geometry factors. Solar collectors are typical applications
where radiative heat transfer is involved as an interaction, for further applications see
Sections 8.3, 8.4, and 8.5.
5.2.4 Dulong-Petite
In some physical situations the heat transfer between two subsystems has conductive
as well as radiative components, where the latter part can not be ignored [65]. One
attempt to describe a combined conductive-convective and radiative heat transfer in a
simplied fashion is the so-called Dulong-Petit law [36,52]
q = K(T1 ? T2 )n (64)
where K is a proportionality constant. The value of the exponent n is usually in the
range between 1:1 and 1:6 [36].
Angulo-Brown and Paez-Hernandez [36] investigated the Curzon{Ahlborn model using
the Dulong-Petit heat conduction law with n = 5=4 and presented examples of power
plants where the predicted theoretical eciencies are in very close agreement (99%) to
the observed eciencies. Chen and Yan et al. [66{68] examined the in
uence of the
Dulong-Petite law on the performance of a forward and reverse Carnot cycle using the
Curzon{Ahlborn model. The analysis was done for arbitrary n and is quite general.
Expressions and optima for various interesting performance parameters like maximum
power, coecient of performance, heating rate and the internal temperatures have been
derived.
18
1.0
Carnot n=-1
n=1
0.8
Efficiency η(Pmax)
n=2
n=3
0.6
: Energy conversion e-
n=4
Fig. 4
0.4 ciency of a Novicov engine at
maximum power generation as a
0.2
function of the temperature ratio
0.0 TL =TH for dierent exponents in
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 the heat transfer law q = K (THn ?
Temperature Ratio TL/TH TiHn ).
TH
QH
TiH Pmax
ηmax
W
Power P
Q leak
TiL
ηCarnot
QL
0.0
TL 0 ηmax ηCarnot
Efficiency η
Fig. 5: Schematic diagram of an endoreversible engine with a bypass heat leak (left) and plots
of average power (work per cycle time) P versus eciency , for an engine with a heat leak
(right). The dashed line corresponds to a model without heat leak. The solid line shows the
loop-type behavior of a model with heat leak. Both, power and eciency vanish in the thermal
short-circuit limit of very fast operation and in the limit of very slow engine operation. The
maximum power and the maximum eciency point are relatively close together (see [47]).
The in
uence of the non-linear heat transfer law q = K(T1n ?T2n ) on the Curzon{Ahlborn
model was investigated by Chen [62], Gordon [46], and Nulton et al. [69]. Orlov [64] also
investigated the Curzon{Ahlborn model but used an extraordinary heat transfer law
9
q = K1 T1 ? T1 + K2 T1 ? T1 : (68)
1 2 1 2
Optimizing for maximum eciency at a given amount of heat he obtained a general
cycle consisting of three isothermal and three adiabatic branches.
19
slow, heat is lost through the heat leak causing a decrease in eciency. Between this
extremes, there are operation modes with internal temperatures TiH and TiL for which
either the eciency or the power output of the engine is maximized.
While the heat leak does not aect the work output of the engine cycle, it enters the
expression for the eciency which is now dened as
() = Q W() + Q = W : (69)
leak H Kleak ttot (TH ? TL ) + W1?()
20
Cycle Adiabates Isotherms Isochors Isobars
Carnot 2 2
Stirling 2 2
Ericsson 2 2
Brayton1 2 2
Otto 2 2
Diesel 2 1 1
Atkinson 2 1 1
Dual combustion 2 2 1
Rallis 2 2 2
Tab. 1 : Branches employed in common cycles (adopted from [44]).
could assume that the produced entropy is proportional to the entropy in
ux on the hot
isothermal
i = ( ? 1) TQH ; (71)
iH
which can be rewritten as
TQH = TQL : (72)
iH iL
In general 1 holds, where = 1 corresponds to an endoreversible heat engine.
The irreversible engine can now be analyzed within the Curzon{Ahlborn model (Fig-
ure 2) using a linear heat conduction law for both heat links and assuming continuous
operation. The only dierence to the endoreversible calculation is, that the balance
equation for the entropy inside the engine is replaced by (72). The optimization of the
power output with respect to the internal temperatures gives
Pmax = (K K+H KKL ) TH ? TL
p p 2
(73)
L H
at an eciency of r
(Pmax ) = 1 ? TTL (74)
H
for the maximum power point [38,40,72,75,76]. The endoreversible engine result is
retrieved for = 1.
As in the case of an endoreversible engine model, the internal irreversible ( > 1)
Curzon{Ahlborn model shows a convex power eciency characteristics with a single
maximumlike the one depicted in Figure 3. Thus internal irreversibilities have a dierent
eect on the performance than an external heat leak.
Models which employ the concept of internally irreversible engines have been described
for linear [48,77{80] and nonlinear [81] heat transfer laws, and for staged engines [82].
Chen [72] extended the model by including an external heat leak.
21
TH
1e+06
1113.0
2 3 3
Temperature T
8e+05
913.0
Pressure p
2
6e+05
713.0
4e+05
513.0
4
2e+05
1
313.0
4 TL
1
-2e+04
113.0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 -0.2 0.3 0.8 1
Volume V Entropy S
can be constructed such that they match non-isothermal heat sources and sinks. Table
1 gives an overview on the type of branches which occur in common standard cycles.
For cycles using isochoric, isobaric, or polytropic branches heat will be transfered at
a time-dependent temperature, and thus the discussion of such engines is in principle
beyond the scope of this review. There are however a number of publications on such
cycles without considering explicit time-dependencies.
One example is a system [83,84], where the temperature of the reservoirs are time-
dependent and changed in such a manner that the dierence in temperature of the
reservoir and working
uid remains constant during the heat exchanging branches. Other
publications belong to one of the following three dierent categories:
22
There is a number of heat engine investigations of this kind [43,47,83,84,86{91]. Lands-
berg and Le [92] for instance showed that the maximum-work eciencies of the ideal
Stirling, Otto, Diesel, and Atkinson cycle is well approximated by the Curzon{Ahlborn
eciency. All these cycles can be regarded as special cases of a `generalized' cycle con-
sisting of two adiabates and two heat transfer branches with constant heat capacities of
the working
uid.
5.5.2 Engine cycles with regeneration
In a number of publications dierent engine cycles have been investigated, which make
use of regenerators. These cycles consist of two isotherms and two (or more) other
branches on which heat transfer occurs. If the heat which enters or leaves the engine
during the non-isothermal branches is deposited in a regenerator, and the regeneration
is lossless, i.e. reversible, then from the outside these engine cycles look like Carnot
cycles, with heat only exchanged with external heat baths on isotherms. Then { not
surprising { the results for the eciency at maximum power are exactly the same as for
the Curzon{Ahlborn engine. However, the maximum(average) power might be dierent.
For instance it is reduced in cyclic operation, if the regenerative branches take a nite
amount of the total available cycle time. The endoreversible Stirling [93], Ericsson [94],
and Rallis [95] cycle with perfect regeneration belong to this category. For non-perfect
regeneration internal irreversibilities occur [96].
5.5.3 The log mean temperature approach
The Brayton, Otto, Diesel, Atkinson, and Dual combustion cycle have no isothermal
branches. Thus an analysis of such a cycle would usually require a time-dependent
treatment, since the temperatures of the working
uid change during the irreversible
heat transfer. Some authors [48,87,94,97{99] eliminated the explicit time dependence
of the heat transfer by approximating the variable temperature dierence by an eective
temperature dierence, the log mean temperature dierence (LMTD). The LMTD can
be motivated from the description of a heat transfer to a working
uid with constant
heat capacity.
Many of the generalizations and alterations to the basic Curzon-Ahlborn engine pre-
sented above apply as well to other heat{work transformation devices, especially to the
refrigerators and heat pumps discussed below.
23
TiH TiH
KH qH KH qH
TH TH
K L q leak
P P
TL TL
KL qL KL q L
TiL TiL
the hot bath to the engine is limited. The internal temperatures of refrigerators or
heat pumps on the other hand lie outside this interval and might be very high or small
respectively. Thus the heat
ow to the hot reservoir is not limited.
The second dierence is due to the appropriate measure of performance. In most cases
the COP as dened in section 4.3.3 for refrigerators and heat pumps is considered.
Several authors used the model of Figure 7 with Newtonian heat transfer to analyze
refrigerators [49,95,101{103] and heat pumps [104]. A typical analysis of the endore-
versible refrigerator model of Figure 7 in steady state operation gives the coecient of
performance as a function of the cooling load
COPR = T T?L T? q+L =C (79)
H L qL=C
with C = (1=KH + 1=KL)?1 . One nds that the COP is maximum for a cooling load
equal to zero and decreases monotonically with the cooling load, a behavior indeed
observed in real refrigerators. Thus for refrigerators (and for heat pumps as well) there
is no analogue to the maximum power calculation in heat engines. Curve (a) in Figure 9
shows the COP as a function of the specic cooling load.
For a given cooling load the COP-optimal allocation of heat exchanger inventory and
of heat exchanger areas can be determined, alternatively the analysis can focus on the
optimal allocation of heat exchanger inventory or area for maximum heating or cooling
rates at a given power [38,49,105,106].
p Then
p for given conductivities H;L, and total
area Atot = Ap H +AL thepresult is H AH = L AL . From this the optimal C = Atot
with = (1= H +1= L )?2 is obtained. The model was also investigated for Dulong-
Petit heat transfer [66,68], and the generalized heat transfer law [67,68,107].
A more advanced model for refrigerators which includes also a heat leak between the
temperature reservoirs is shown in Figure 8 [100]. This model was investigated for
a linear heat transfer law in all three heat links and under steady state conditions
[51,73,105].
A thorough analysis of the eect of internal irreversibilities in the above described models
is provided in [106,108{116]. Chen and Wu [106] for instance found the coecient of
performance as a function of the specic cooling load r = qL=Atot
COPR;irr = T =TL??Tr=+irrr= (80)
H L irr
24
10
COP
4 b
270 K. The curve (a) corresponds
to an endoreversible refrigerator,
2 c while the curves (b) and (c) cor-
respond a refrigerator with inter-
nal irreversibilities ?1 = 1, 1.1,
0
0 20 40 60 80
r/K
*
and 1.2 respectively [106].
TH TH2 TH
KH qH KH
TH qH
TH1 P1
K
P1 P2
TL1 TH1 qM K
KM qM KM
TH2 qM TL2
P2 P2
P1 K
TL2
qL TL
KL qL KL
TL TL1 TL
Fig. 10 : Two-staged power plant (left), refrigerator (middle), and complicated arrangement
(right) with three heat exchangers.
p
with irr = (1= H + 1=pL )?2, and being the irreversibility introduced above.
Figure 9 shows its dependence on .
The results of the theoretical models have been compared to the experimental data ob-
tained from measurements on actual refrigerators and heat pumps. It has been demon-
strated for various types of devices that the theoretical modeling is capable of describing
the fundamental aspects of refrigerator and heat pump behavior [30,105,111,117].
Pmax = K K +KK
H KM KL
hp p i2
TH ? TL (81)
M L HKL + KH KM
25
has the same temperature dependence as the one for a single system (53). The staging
does not in
uence the eciency at maximum total power which turns out to be the
Curzon{Ahlborn eciency
r
(Pmax ) = CA = 1 ? TTL : (82)
H
Rubin and Andresen [54] investigated the model in great detail for cyclic operation and
found the same result.
For a constrained total heat exchanger inventory Ktot = KH + KM + KL the power{
optimal allocation of the thermal conductances yields [50] KH;opt = KM;opt = KL;opt .
Chen and Wu [118] constraint the total area Atot = AH + AM + AL of the heat ex-
changers for given thermal conductivities H , L, and M. Then the power-optimal area
distribution leads to pH AH;opt = pM AM;opt = pL AL;opt : Subsequently, Chen and
Wu generalized the results to n-staged endoreversible power cycles [119,120].
De Mey and De Vos [121] investigated a staged system with three heat exchangers and
two endoreversible Carnot heat engines as shown at the right-hand side of Figure 10.
Using the total power output as the objective function gave an eciency of
1=3
= 1 ? TTL (83)
H
for each of the heat engines, a remarkable result as the square root occuring in the
Curzon{Ahlborn eciency is replaced by a cubic root.
Two-stage and multi-stage combined refrigeration cycles are often employed when ma-
terial limitations in refrigeration plants restrict the span of the temperatures between
the heat source and heat sink. A simple model of a two-staged refrigerator is depicted
in middle of Figure 10. The model has been analyzed for a linear heat transfer law
[57,122,123]. The dependence of the optimal coecient of performance on the cooling
load was found. For constrained heat exchanger areas or thermal conductivities the
optimal allocations have been derived, which are the same as for the heat engine case.
Another important combination of energy transformation devices is between a heat en-
gine and a refrigerator, where the heat engine's power output is used to drive the refrig-
erator. Combined arrangements of this kind were suggested as models for heat-driven
refrigerators (see section 8.1) [124{127] and heat driven heat pumps [128], respectively.
Adopting the respective COP as an objective function, performance parameters such
as the (specic) cooling load have been obtained and the optimal allocation of heat
exchanger areas was derived for the case of Newtonian heat
ow.
26
Q M2 QH
Condensor Generator
Pump
TH
qH
TiH
qM
TiM TM
TiL
Fig. 12: Three heat source
qL
model to describe the absorption
TL
refrigeration cycle
in Figure 11. The generator receives the heat
ux qH from a high temperature source
at TH and the absorber rejects the heat
ux qM1 at TM1 . This heat
ow drives another
heat
ow from a cold space at temperature TL , where the evaporator absorbs the heat
ux qL, to the condenser, which rejects the heat
ux qM2 at TM2 . Here we discuss the
case that the temperatures TM1 and TM2 are given by a common ambient temperature
TM .
The absorption refrigerator can be modeled as an endoreversible refrigerator driven
by an endoreversible heat engine [124,125,127]. In a dierent modeling approach the
absorption refrigerator is treated as a three heat source system [27,129], which is depicted
in Figure 12. The reversible subsystem of the model receives the heat
uxes qH and qL
from the hot heat source and cooled space, respectively, and releases the heat qM which
corresponds to qM1 + qM2 in Figure 11 to the ambient. The three heat source model is
similar to the tricycle model introduced by Andresen, Salamon, and Berry [3].
An analysis of the three heat source model has been provided by Chen [27] for a linear
heat transfer law in all three heat links. Figure 13 shows the cooling load qL aspa function
of thepcoecient of the performance COPHR = qL=qH parameterized by B = ( H=L ?
1)=( H=M + 1), where H, M , L are the corresponding conductivities pHAH +ofpthe heat
links. Here the optimal area allocation for maximum cooling load
p A for given conductivities has already been used. The same area allocation occurs L AL=
M M
if the device operates as a heat pump [130].
Endoreversible models for absorption refrigerators were further analyzed by Wu [131,
132], and Yan and Chen [133]. Gordon et al. [112,117] compared their analysis of the ab-
sorption refrigerator including internal irreversibilities with performance data from jour-
27
1.0
a
: Cooling load of an ab-
nal articles, manufacturer catalogue data, and experimental measurements, and found
a good agreement with their theoretical predictions.
28
β=0.1
β=0.2
β=0.5
β=1
β=5
Fig. 14: The eect of the tem-
Pmax
perature ratio ex = TL =TH on
the maximum power delivered by
an endoreversible heat engine ra-
diatively coupled to a collector
0.00
and a radiator plotted for several
ratios of the heat transfer coef-
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Temperature Ratio TL/TH
cients.
A slightly more complicated model is discussed by Goktun et. al. [147] who employed the
Curzon{Ahlborn model with radiative heat transfer to the hot and the cold heat bath.
The analysis of the model gives an expression for the maximum power Pmax which has
to be solved numerically. Figure 14 shows the results of the calculation. The maximum
power Pmax in units of the incoming radiation
ux from the hot bath is plotted against
the temperature ratio ex = TL=TH for several ratios = KH =KL of the heat transfer
coecients. The power output Pmax is largest for small ex , although the variations are
minor if ex < 0:2. In order to increase the thermal eciency and power output, must
be decreased. This means that the heat conduction on the low-temperature side rather
than that of the high-temperature side has to be increased for good performance.
Bejan [51] showed for the special case TL = 0 that, if the total area of the collector and
radiator is constrained, maximum power output is achieved when the low temperature
radiator area is about twice as large as the high temperature collector area. Blank
and Wu [148] investigated an endoreversible Stirling engine with radiative heat links.
Howell and Bannerot [149] studied the regenerative Stirling, Ericsson, and Brayton heat
engines, and Stirling and Ericsson cycles were also documented by Badescu [150].
29
TH
QH Fig. 15: Schematics of an en-
doreversible model for the wind
TiH
generation and the subsequent
αW dissipation of the wind energy.
The fraction of the (kinetic)
W
(1−α) W
wind energy is dissipated to heat
TiL at the hot temperature of the en-
QL gine, and the remaining energy
is dissipated to heat at the cold
TL temperature of the engine.
where the air is heated [155]. In the other version the hot isotherm is on the day side of
the earth, and the cold isotherm is on the night side [156].
De Vos and Flatter [156] enlarged the model of Gordon and Zarmi [155] by including the
dissipation of the wind energy. The fraction of the (kinetic) wind energy is dissipated
to heat at the hot temperature of the engine, and the remaining energy is dissipated
to heat at the cold temperature of the engine. Figure 15 shows the corresponding
endoreversible model.
These processes serve as good example for irreversible interactions in endoreversible
systems. The process is modeled as an interaction with one power contact and two
entropy contacts. The momentum transfer, which occurs in the generation of the wind
and in its dissipation is not considered in this model, as it is of no importance within
this purely energetic consideration.
The calculations [156] gave an upper bound for the conversion eciency of solar energy
into wind energy of 8.3% for the planet Earth. Subsequently, De Vos and van der
Wel [158] rened their endoreversible model, considering several endoreversible `wind
engines' on the earth surface. A much lower boundary for the conversion eciency
was obtained by Nuwayhid and Moukalled [160] who included a heat leak from the
illuminated side to the dark side of the planet. In a recent work, De Vos and van der
Wel [159] assumed the presence of six Hadley cells (macroscopic atmospheric cycles) as
endoreversible subsystems in the Earth's wind system. The model gives an upper limit
of 1.17% for the eciency of the solar to wind energy conversion. This value compares
well with recently obtained empirical gures of 0.8% to 1.0% [161,162].
30
high chemical µH
hot reservoir TH
potential reservoir
qH JH
TiH µiH
P P
q leak J leak
TiL µiL
qL JL
Fig. 16 : The models of an endoreversible heat engine and a chemical engine show many simi-
larities. The heat engine operates between two heat reservoirs at a high and a low temperature
TH and TL , respectively. The only irreversibilities are due to heat transfers QH , QL , and a heat
leak Qleak over nite temperature dierences. The internal temperatures of the engine are TiH
and TiL . The endoreversible chemical engine employs reservoirs at a high and a low chemical
potential H and L , respectively. The irreversibilities are associated with the particle transfer
JH , JL , and Jleak over nite chemical potential dierences (adopted from [168]).
thermodynamic model of a solar cell using energy and entropy transport equations. The
model consists of two surfaces which radiate to each other. The only irreversibilities are
located in two surfaces where excited electrons are thermalized. Within this model a
generalization of the Landsberg inequality, which gives a bound on the eciency of a
photo-voltaic engine, was obtained for the nite band gap case. In his book [41], De Vos
gives also a review on the photo-voltaic conversion of solar radiation.
31
tonian heat transfer, however, a closer look reveals that the analogy between the two
engines is not perfect. While in the heat engine the linear transfer law applies to the
energy transported, in the chemical engine the linear transport law applies to the carrier
of the energy, namely a particle
ux. This small dierence in the interaction leads to
completely dierent behavior of the engine.
The balance equations for energy and particle number lead to
P = iH JH ? iL JL ; (88)
where P is the produced power, and
0 = JH ? JL : (89)
Solving for iH and iL gives P as a function of J = JH = JL alone
J
P = J H ? L ? h ? h : J (90)
H L
Maximizing with respect to J then gives the optimal internal chemical potentials and
the optimal particle
ux:
J = (H ? L ) 2(hhH+hLh ) : (91)
H L
The chemical engine serves as a good example for an endoreversible system, where the
interactions obey no balance equation for the energy. As the particle
ux in each of the
interactions is conserved, and the chemical potentials are dierent for the two contacts
in an interaction, energy is obviously lost. For the performance measure maximized in
this example that is of no concern, and thus the energy
uxes accompanying the particle
uxes can be savely ignored. If, however, one desires to take these also into account for
a more general characterization of a chemical engine, one can do so, see for instance the
work by De Vos [167] and Mironova et al. [169].
For the above chemical engine model Gordon [168] discussed also the cyclic operation.
They included the nite rate particle leak and gave expressions for the maximum power
output. They also discussed the more complicated particle transfer law
1 ? exp 2
h i
J / exp kT kT (92)
which depends on the temperature T of the system as well.
9. Conclusion
Endoreversible thermodynamics in our view is the successful attempt to include irre-
versibilities and dissipative processes into the description of thermodynamic processes,
while at the same time preserving the advantages of classical reversible thermodynamics.
The central idea is to think of a system as a network of subsystems { each undergoing
only reversible processes { which exchange energy. All irreversibilities occur only in the
interactions between the subsystems. Treating systems in this way one gets one step
closer to a realistic description of real dissipative processes.
In this review we presented the general framework for the endoreversible description of
thermodynamic systems undergoing irreversible processes. Depending on the desired
accuracy of the description a system can be separated into a larger or smaller number
32
of subsystems. This way the irreversibilities of the energy exchange between the parts
of the system can be taken into account. The discussion focused equally on obtaining a
proper mathematical theory and on the characterization of the systems performance.
We showed how the framework is applied to heat engines and gave an overview on
the dierent heat transfer laws. The optimization of ideal reversible engine cycles and
internal irreversibilities were discussed, two topics beyond the original denition of en-
doreversible systems, but closely related. Our aim was not so much to elaborate a large
number of dierent energy transformation devices, our aim was a presentation from a
systematic point of view. As a good starting point for further reading of this subject
and related topics we recommend references [33,41,170].
Due to the limitations of space we conned this review to the time-independent treat-
ment of endoreversible systems. Nonetheless, a large number of dierent systems was
discussed, which showed that endoreversible thermodynamics is a conceptually simple
and successful step towards the inclusion of irreversibilities in the description of ther-
modynamic processes.
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