Thermodynamics of a minimal interacting heat engine: Comparison between engine designs

Area of Science:

• Thermodynamics
• Statistical Mechanics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Collective effects in interacting systems are key in nature and engineering.
• Limited understanding of engine design's impact on performance, especially in realistic setups.
• Previous studies often simplified systems, e.g., simultaneous contact with two thermal baths.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the influence of engine design on heat engine performance.
• Introduce a sequential (collisional) description for interacting heat engines.
• Analyze performance metrics under various work sources and parameters.

Main Methods:

• Developed a minimal model of two coupled nanomachines with distinct thermal reservoirs.
• Applied a sequential work source at each stage.
• Exactly obtained thermodynamic quantities irrespective of model details.

Main Results:

• Careful interaction design yields superior performance compared to interactionless cases.
• Achieved optimal power outputs and efficiencies exceeding known bounds.
• Demonstrated efficiencies approaching the ideal Carnot limit.

Conclusions:

• Sequential description provides a more realistic framework for interacting heat engines.
• Engine design, particularly interaction, is crucial for optimizing performance.
• The simultaneous two-bath case is a specific instance within this sequential framework.