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Heat Engines

Heat Engines

A heat engine is a device used to extract heat from a source and then convert it into mechanical work used for various applications. For example, a steam engine on an old-style train can produce the work needed for driving the train.
Whenever we consider heat engines (and associated devices such as refrigerators and heat pumps), we do not use the standard sign convention for heat and work. For convenience, we assume that the symbols Qh, Qc, and W represent only the amounts of heat transferred...

The Carnot Cycle

The Carnot Cycle

Converting work to heat is an irreversible process, and the purpose of a heat engine is to reverse the effect partially. Heat engines aim to increase the efficiency of the reversal, that is, maximize the work retrieved from heat. If the efficiency of a heat engine were 100%, it would imply reversing the process completely without introducing any other effect. Thus, it would violate the second law of thermodynamics.
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The Carnot Cycle and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

The Carnot Cycle and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

The Carnot engine works between two heat reservoirs of fixed temperatures. The Carnot cycle begs the following question: Is it possible to devise a heat engine that is more efficient than a Carnot engine between two fixed temperatures? The answer lies in designing a Carnot refrigerator.
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The Joule and Joule–Thomson Experiments

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Consider an adiabatic system composed of two chambers, A and B, designed such that no heat flows into or out of the system. Initially, chamber A is filled with a gas at a fixed temperature T1, pressure p1, and volume V1, while chamber B is evacuated. The gas is then gradually forced through a rigid, porous barrier to chamber B, ultimately reaching temperature T2, pressure p2, and volume V2. A piston on the right side maintains a constant pressure (p2), which is lower than p1. The significant...

Statements of the Second Law of Thermodynamics

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Joule-Thomson Effect

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This experiment forces high-pressure gas through a throttle valve or a porous plug to a lower-pressure region. The gas expands as it passes through to...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Asymmetric Thermoelectrochemical Cell for Harvesting Low-grade Heat under Isothermal Operation

Asymmetric Thermoelectrochemical Cell for Harvesting Low-grade Heat under Isothermal Operation

Published on: February 5, 2020

One-dimensional hard-point gas as a thermoelectric engine.

Jiao Wang¹, Giulio Casati, Tomaz Prosen

¹Temasek Laboratories, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|November 13, 2009

Summary

Researchers developed a novel thermoelectric engine using a 1D molecular gas. Its efficiency depends on a new parameter, YT, distinct from the standard ZT figure of merit, opening avenues for future engine designs.

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Area of Science:

Thermodynamics
Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics

Background:

Thermoelectric engines convert heat to work using temperature differences.
Current thermoelectric materials often rely on the figure of merit ZT for efficiency assessment.
Developing new engine designs and efficiency metrics is crucial for energy harvesting.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the feasibility of constructing a thermoelectric engine using a simplified molecular model.
To identify the key parameters governing the efficiency of such a novel engine.
To introduce a new parameter, YT, for evaluating thermoelectric engine performance.

Main Methods:

Modeling a one-dimensional gas of molecules with unequal masses and hard-point interactions.
Analyzing the thermodynamic cycle and energy conversion processes within the model.
Deriving the efficiency of the engine based on molecular properties and interactions.

Main Results:

Demonstrated the possibility of building a thermoelectric engine from a 1D molecular gas.
Identified a new efficiency-determining parameter, YT, which differs from the standard ZT figure of merit.
Observed that while the current model's efficiency is low, the YT parameter offers a new perspective.

Conclusions:

The study presents a foundational model for a new class of thermoelectric engines.
The YT parameter provides a novel metric for assessing thermoelectric engine efficiency, distinct from ZT.
This work paves the way for designing potentially more efficient thermoelectric engines in the future.