2011/04/30 by Yuki Izumida, Koji Okuda
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1209/0295-5075/97/10004
published as EPL, 97 (2012) 10004 · 6 pages, 1 figure
arxiv created 2012/01/26 · arxiv updated 2012/01/27
We propose the minimally nonlinear irreversible heat engine as a new general theoretical model to study the efficiency at the maximum power η^* of heat engines operating between the hot heat reservoir at the temperature Th and the cold one at Tc (Tc ≤ Th ). Our model is based on the extended Onsager relations with a new nonlinear term meaning the power dissipation. In this model, we show that η^* is bounded from the upper side by a function of the Carnot efficiency ηC≡ 1-Tc/Th as η^*≤ ηC/(2-ηC). We demonstrate the validity of our theory by showing that the low-dissipation Carnot engine can easily be described by our theory.