Related papers: Energy conversion in isothermal nonlinear irrevers…
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…
We study the energetics of isothermal ratchets which are driven by a chemical reaction between two states and operate in contact with a single heat bath of constant temperature. We discuss generic aspects of energy transduction such as…
Producing useful electrical work in consuming chemical energy, the fuel cell have to reject heat to its surrounding. However, as it occurs for any other type of engine, this thermal energy cannot be exchanged in an isothermal way in finite…
Electrochemical kinetics at electrode-electrolyte interfaces are crucial to understand high-rate behavior of energy storage devices. Phase transformation of electrodes is typically treated under equilibrium thermodynamic conditions, while…
We analyse a device aimed at the conversion of heat into electrical energy, based on a closed cycle in which a distiller generates two solutions at different concentrations, and an electrochemical cell consumes the concentration difference,…
One of the main issues that real energy converters present, when they produce effective work, is the inevitable entropy production. Within the context of Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics, entropy production tends to energetically degrade…
In living cells, molecular motors convert chemical energy into mechanical work. Its thermodynamic energy efficiency, i.e. the ratio of output mechanical work to input chemical energy, is usually high. However, using two-state models, we…
A cyclically operating chemical engine is considered that converts chemical energy into mechanical work. The working fluid is a gas of finite-sized spherical particles interacting through elastic hard collisions. For a generic transport law…
Living systems efficiently use chemical fuel to do work, process information, and assemble patterns despite thermal noise. Whether high efficiency arises from general principles or specific fine-tuning is unknown. Here, applying a recent…
Our Society is in high need of alternatives to fossil fuels. Nanoporous systems filled with aqueous electrolytes show great promises for harvesting the osmotic energy of sea water or waste heat. At the core of energy conversion in such…
We study microscopic engines that use a single active particle as their "working medium". Part of the energy required to drive the directed motion of the particle can be recovered as work, even at constant temperature. A wide class of…
A simple model of the two-state ratchet type is proposed for molecular chemical engines that convert chemical free energy into mechanical work and vice versa. The engine works by catalyzing a chemical reaction and turning a rotor.…
The energy transition is also about switching to electricity-based technologies such as heat pumps and electric mobility. They avoid heat as an intermediate step and are therefore much more efficient. This can significantly reduce the…
Forced convection cooling is important in numerous technologies ranging from microprocessors in data centers to turbines and engines; active cooling is essential in these situations. However, active transfer of heat or thermal energy under…
This paper shows a fundamental thermodynamic similarity between thermoelectric and photovoltaic energy converters which, at open circuit, can be represented as isochoric engines generating a finite chemical potential which appears as…
Biomolecular machines are protein complexes that convert between different forms of free energy. They are utilized in nature to accomplish many cellular tasks. As isothermal nonequilibrium stochastic objects at low Reynolds number, they…
Active fluids are intrinsically out-of-equilibrium systems due to the internal energy injection of the active constituents. We show here that a transition from a motion-less isotropic state towards a flowing polar one can be possibly driven…
We formulate the energy conversion efficiency from a high-order soliton to fundamental solitons by including the influence of interpulse Raman scattering in the fission process. The proposed analytical formula agrees closely with numerical…
We provide a framework for optimizing energy conversion processes in coherent quantum conductors fed by nonthermal resources. Such nonthermal resources, which cannot be characterized by temperatures or electrochemical potentials, occur in…
Biomolecular machines transduce between different forms of energy. These machines make directed progress and increase their speed by consuming free energy, typically in the form of nonequilibrium chemical concentrations. Machine dynamics…