An Effective Flux Framework for Linear Irreversible Heat Engines: Case Study of a Thermoelectric Generator

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new framework to model heat engines, focusing on thermoelectric generators under linear irreversible conditions.

Contribution

A novel flux-based approach is proposed to describe entropy generation in thermoelectric generators with internal and external irreversibilities.

Findings

The entropy generation rate is expressed as a homogeneous function of thermal fluxes under tight coupling.

The framework is applied to thermoelectric generators with both internal and external irreversibilities.

Algebraic forms of the effective flux are derived for different irreversibility scenarios.

Abstract

We consider an autonomous heat engine in simultaneous contact with a hot and a cold reservoir and describe it within a linear irreversible framework. In a tight-coupling approximation, the rate of entropy generation is effectively written in terms of a single thermal flux that is a homogeneous function of the hot and cold fluxes. The specific algebraic forms of the effective flux are deduced for scenarios containing internal and external irreversibilities for the typical example of a thermoelectric generator.

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