Effect of finite-size heat source's heat capacity on the efficiency of heat engine

TL;DR

This paper investigates how finite heat capacity of sources affects heat engine efficiency, revealing conditions under which efficiency can surpass Carnot limits, especially with negative heat capacities like black holes.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of finite-size heat sources, including negative heat capacities, and derives universal efficiency relations in finite-time operations.

Findings

Efficiency at maximum work depends on heat capacity characteristics.

Efficiency can surpass Carnot limit with negative heat capacity sources.

Universal efficiency relation in finite-time operation: η=η_C/4 + O(η_C^2).

Abstract

Heat engines used to output useful work have important practical significance, which, in general, operate between heat baths of infinite size and constant temperature. In this paper we study the efficiency of a heat engine operating between two finite-size heat sources with initial temperature differences. The total output work of such heat engine is limited due to the finite heat capacity of the sources. We investigate the effects of different heat capacity characteristics of the sources on the heat engine's efficiency at maximum work (EMW) in the quasi-static limit. In addition, we study the efficiency of the engine working in finite-time with maximum power of each cycle is achieved and find the efficiency follows a simple universality as $\eta=\eta_{\mathrm{C}}/4+O\left(\eta_{\mathrm{C}}^{2}\right)$. Remarkably, when the heat capacity of the heat source is negative, such as the black holes, we show that the heat engine efficiency during the operation can surpass the Carnot efficiency determined by the initial temperature of the heat sources. It is further argued that the heat engine between two black holes with vanishing initial temperature difference can be driven by the energy fluctuation. The corresponding EMW is proved to be $\eta_{\mathrm{EMW}}=2-\sqrt{2}$, which is two time of the maximum energy release rate $\mu=\left(2-\sqrt{2}\right)/2\approx0.29$ of two black hole emerging process obtained by S. W. Hawking.