English

Efficiency at maximum power of low dissipation Carnot engines

Statistical Mechanics 2015-05-19 v2

Abstract

We study the efficiency at maximum power, η\eta^*, of engines performing finite-time Carnot cycles between a hot and a cold reservoir at temperatures ThT_h and TcT_c, respectively. For engines reaching Carnot efficiency ηC=1Tc/Th\eta_C=1-T_c/T_h in the reversible limit (long cycle time, zero dissipation), we find in the limit of low dissipation that η\eta^* is bounded from above by ηC/(2ηC)\eta_C/(2-\eta_C) and from below by ηC/2\eta_C/2. These bounds are reached when the ratio of the dissipation during the cold and hot isothermal phases tend respectively to zero or infinity. For symmetric dissipation (ratio one) the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency ηCA=1Tc/Th\eta_{CA}=1-\sqrt{T_c/T_h} is recovered.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1008.2464,
  title  = {Efficiency at maximum power of low dissipation Carnot engines},
  author = {Massimiliano Esposito and Ryoichi Kawai and Katja Lindenberg and Christian Van den Broeck},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1008.2464},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

4 pages, 1 figure, 1 table