Related papers: Thermoelectric generator at optimal power with ext…
Thermostatics of CARNOT engines has been extended by more recent research based on endo-reversible model. Our model assumes exo-reversibility but endo-irreversibility to determine new upper-bound to thermomechanical conversion. We propose a…
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…
Thermal machines are physical systems that, when fueled by input energy, perform output tasks such as heat pumping or the production of work. Their performance is characterized with several, often competing quantities, such as power,…
Thermoelectric effects, such as the generation of a particle current by a temperature gradient, have their origin in a reversible coupling between heat and particle flows. These effects are fundamental probes for materials and have…
In this paper we revisit the thermocouple model, as a linear irreversible thermodynamic energy converter. As is well known, the linear model of the thermocuple is one of the classics in this branch. In this model we note two types of…
We study how to achieve the ultimate power in the simplest, yet non trivial, model of a thermal machine, namely a two-level quantum system coupled to two thermal baths. Without making any prior assumption on the protocol, via optimal…
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…
We quantify the prior information to infer the optimal characteristics for a constrained thermodynamic process of maximum work extraction for a pair of non-identical finite systems. The total entropy of the whole system remains conserved.…
Solid-state thermionic power generators are an alternative to thermoelectric modules. In this manuscript, we develop an analytical model to investigate the performance of these generators in the non-linear regime. We identify dimensionless…
A 3D thermoelectric numerical model is used to investigate different internal heat loss mechanisms for a thermoelectric generator with bismuth telluride p- and n-legs. The model considers all thermoelectric effects, temperature dependent…
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…
The direction of the steady-state heat currents across a generic quantum system connected to multiple baths may be engineered so as to realize virtually any thermodynamic cycle. In spite of their versatility such continuous…
There is intense effort into understanding the universal properties of finite-time models of thermal machines---at optimal performance---such as efficiency at maximum power, coefficient of performance at maximum cooling power, and other…
Optimisation of heat engines at the micro-scale has applications in biological and artificial nano-technology, and stimulates theoretical research in non-equilibrium statistical physics. Here we consider non-interacting overdamped particles…
The possibility of night-time power generation has recently stimulated interest in using the radiative sky cooling mechanism with thermoelectric generators (TEG). These passive, low-temperature difference devices have been shown to generate…
We investigate thermoelectric efficiency of systems with broken time reversal symmetry under a three-terminal transport. Using a model of Aharonov-Bohm interferometer formed with three noninteracting quantum dots, we show that Carnot…
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…
We analyze the power output of a quantum dot machine coupled to two electronic reservoirs via thermoelectric contacts, and to two thermal reservoirs - one hot and one cold. This machine is a nanoscale analogue of a conventional thermocouple…
A model of a conducting cylinder with a radial temperature gradient which creates an electric field that increases with time in the surrounding vacuum is examined. The conditions under which this model functions are pointed out. An electric…
A famous paper [Am. J. Phys. 43, 22 (1975)] unveiled the efficiency at maximum power (EMP) of the endo-reversible Carnot heat engine, now commonly referred to as the Curzon-Ahlborn (CA) engine, pioneering finite-time thermodynamics.…