Related papers: Heat devices in nonlinear irreversible thermodynam…
Carnot efficiency sets a fundamental upper bound on the heat engine efficiency, attainable in the quasi-static limit, albeit at the cost of completely sacrificing power output. In this Letter, we present a minimal heat engine model that can…
The energy conversion efficiency of far-from-equilibrium systems is generally limited by irreversible thermodynamic fluxes that make contact with different heat baths. For complex systems, the states of the maximum efficiency and the…
Power and efficiency are fundamental criteria for evaluating the performance of thermodynamic cycles. However, it is generally impossible to maximize both simultaneously. In particular, achieving maximum efficiency inevitably leads to…
The thermodynamics of the Curzon-Ahlborn engine, which is a prototype of endoreversible engines, is elucidated. In particular, their criterion for adiabatic equilibration is revised. The so-called irreversibility of endoreversible engines…
Various quantum systems are considered as the working substance for the analysis of quantum heat cycles and quantum refrigerators. The ongoing technological challenge is how efficiently can a heat engine convert thermal energy to mechanical…
We apply advanced methods of control theory to open quantum systems and we determine finite-time processes which are optimal with respect to thermodynamic performances. General properties and necessary conditions characterizing optimal…
Improvement of thermoelectric systems in terms of performance and range of applications relies on progress in materials science and optimization of device operation. In this chapter, we focuse on optimization by taking into account the…
We study the optimal performance of an endoreversible quantum dot heat engine, in which the heat transfer between the system and baths is mediated by qubits, operating under the conditions of a trade-off objective function known as maximum…
We study the coefficient of performance (COP) and its bounds of the Canot-like refrigerator working between two heat reservoirs at constant temperatures $T_h$ and $T_c$, under two optimization criteria $\chi$ and $\Omega$. In view of the…
We study the efficiency of a simple quantum dot heat engine at maximum power. In contrast to the quasi-statically operated Carnot engine whose efficiency reaches the theoretical maximum, recent research on more realistic engines operated in…
Electrical circuits with transient elements can be good examples of systems where non--steady irreversible processes occur, so in the same way as a steady state energy converter, we use the formal construction of the first order…
Thermoelectricity is traditionally explained via Onsager's irreversible, flux-force framework. The coupled flows of heat and electric charge are modelled as steady-state flows, driven by the thermodynamic forces defined in terms of the…
We derive general trade-off relations among the power, efficiency, and constancy for two-terminal thermoelectric systems in the linear response regime. Constancy, which quantifies the steadiness of the heat engine, is measured by its…
Optimizing the performance of thermal machines is an essential task of thermodynamics. We here consider the optimization of information engines that convert information about the state of a system into work. We concretely introduce a…
We analyse non-equilibrium Carnot-like cycles built with a colloidal particle in a harmonic trap, which is immersed in a fluid that acts as a heat bath. Our analysis is carried out in the overdamped regime. The cycle comprises four…
Here, we investigate the maximum power and corresponding efficiency of thermoelectric generators through devising a set of protocols for the isothermal and adiabatic processes of thermoelectricity to build a Carnot-like thermoelectric…
New strategy is presented to optimize the performance of Thermoelectric (TE) coolers. This approach breaks optimizing TE coolers free from traditional methods of controlling temperature or engineering materials and the structural properties…
Charge and heat transport in nano-structures is dominated by non-equilibrium effects which strongly influence their behaviour. These effects are studied in a setup consisting of three external leads, one of which is considered as a heat…
We investigate a Brownian heat engine wherein a particle moves through a periodic ratchet potential under an exponentially decreasing temperature profile, a spatial configuration that closely resembles experimentally realizable conditions…
We discuss the possibility of reaching the Carnot efficiency by heat engines (HEs) out of quasi-static conditions at nonzero power output. We focus on several models widely used to describe the performance of actual HEs. These models…