Heat devices in nonlinear irreversible thermodynamics

TL;DR

This paper investigates the performance limits of heat devices using nonlinear irreversible thermodynamics, focusing on efficiency, power, and COP, and highlighting the impact of irreversibilities like heat leaks and internal dissipations.

Contribution

It introduces a nonlinear irreversible thermodynamic framework to analyze heat device performance, emphasizing the role of irreversibilities and comparing different models.

Findings

Maximum efficiency and COP are significantly affected by heat leaks.

Efficiency at maximum power can be optimized considering internal dissipations.

The interplay of irreversibilities determines the global performance characteristics.

Abstract

We present results obtained by using nonlinear irreversible models for heat devices. In particular, we focus on the global performance characteristics, the maximum efficiency and the efficiency at maximum power regimes for heat engines, and the maximum coefficient of performance (COP) and the COP at maximum cooling power regimes for refrigerators. We analyze the key role played by the interplay between irreversibilities coming from heat leaks and internal dissipations. We also discuss the relationship between these results and those obtained by different models.