Fundamental Limits of an Irreversible Heat Engine

Area of Science:

• Thermodynamics
• Statistical Mechanics
• Non-equilibrium Systems

Background:

• Stochastic thermodynamics provides a framework for understanding small systems operating far from equilibrium.
• Heat engines are crucial for energy conversion, but their performance is limited by irreversibility and dissipation.
• Understanding optimal performance requires analyzing energy dissipation and control strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the optimal performance of irreversible Stirling-like heat engines.
• To derive the upper bound of maximal power output for both overdamped and underdamped models.
• To develop an optimal control strategy for achieving maximal power and determine efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the framework of stochastic thermodynamics.
• Established a connection between energy dissipation and Wasserstein distance.
• Analytically derived the upper bound of maximal power and optimal control strategies.

Main Results:

• Derived the upper bound of maximal power for irreversible Stirling-like heat engines.
• Established a direct link between energy dissipation and Wasserstein distance.
• Developed an analytical optimal control strategy to achieve maximal power.
• Determined the efficiency at maximal power for the overdamped model.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a theoretical framework for optimizing the performance of irreversible heat engines.
• The findings offer insights into the fundamental limits of power output and efficiency in small thermodynamic systems.
• The developed optimal control strategy can guide the design of more efficient energy conversion devices.