Optimal Thermodynamics—New Upperbounds

This paper reviews how ideas have evolved in this field from the pioneering work of CARNOT right up to the present. The coupling of thermostatics with thermokinetics (heat and mass transfers) and entropy or exergy analysis is illustrated through study of thermomechanical engines such as the Carnot h...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Michel Feidt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2009-09-01
Series:Entropy
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/11/4/529/
Description
Summary:This paper reviews how ideas have evolved in this field from the pioneering work of CARNOT right up to the present. The coupling of thermostatics with thermokinetics (heat and mass transfers) and entropy or exergy analysis is illustrated through study of thermomechanical engines such as the Carnot heat engine, and internal combustion engines. The benefits and importance of stagnation temperature and irreversibility parameters are underlined. The main situations of constrained (or unconstrained) optimization are defined, discussed and illustrated. The result of this study is a new branch of thermodynamics: Finite Dimensions Optimal Thermodynamics (FDOT).
ISSN:1099-4300