Optimal configuration for a finite high-temperature source heat engine cycle with the complex heat transfer law

Abstract

The optimal configuration of a heat engine operating between a finite high-temperature source and an infinite low-temperature reservoir is derived by using finite time thermodynamics based on a complex heat transfer law, including Newtonian heat transfer law, linear phenomenological heat transfer law, radiative heat transfer law, Dulong-Petit heat transfer law, generalized convective heat transfer law and generalized radiative heat transfer law, q ∝ (ΔTn). In the engine model the only irreversibility of finite rate heat transfer is considered. The optimal relation between the power output and efficiency of the heat engine is also derived by using an equivalent temperature of the hot reservoir. The obtained results include those obtained in recent literature and can provide some theoretical guidance for the designs of practical engines.