IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v16y1991i7p1051-1058.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Power optimization of an irreversible heat engine

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Won Y.
  • Kim, Sang S.

Abstract

We study the power and efficiency of an irreversible heat engine coupled to heating and cooling fluids with finite heat-capacity rates. We consider a specific model, for which the irreversibilities result from the finite rates of heat conductance and the internal irreversibility of the heat engine. The maximum power obtainable from such a system and the corresponding efficiency are derived analytically to provide more realistic limits on the performance of an irreversible heat engine than those obtained from a reversible heat engine. It is seen that two different optimal conditions must be determined. These are the optimal operating temperatures of the working fluids and the optimal allocation fraction of the heat conductance between the heating and cooling fluids. In the limit in which the heat-capacity rates approach infinity, the efficiency of an endoreversible heat engine at maximum power approaches the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency. The calculated efficiency at maximum power is close to that actually observed in well-designed power plants.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Won Y. & Kim, Sang S., 1991. "Power optimization of an irreversible heat engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 1051-1058.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:16:y:1991:i:7:p:1051-1058
    DOI: 10.1016/0360-5442(91)90066-U
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/036054429190066U
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/0360-5442(91)90066-U?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:16:y:1991:i:7:p:1051-1058. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.