The role of the Stefan–Boltzmann law in the thermodynamic optimization of an n-Müser engine

M.A. Ramírez-Moreno, S. González-Hernández and F. Angulo-Brown

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2016, vol. 444, issue C, 914-921

Abstract: A Müser-type engine model can be taken as a particular case of a Curzon–Ahlborn thermal cycle, when the upper thermal conductance is finite and the lower one is infinite. In addition, the upper heat exchange is given by the Stefan–Boltzmann law. That model is suitable to thermodynamically describe some aspects of energy converters as solar cells and photosynthetic systems. In the present article, we call n-Müser engine to an engine of the Müser type in which the T4 heat transfer law is substituted by a Tn-law, being n>0 a real number. Here, we show that if we use the so-called ecological criterion of merit to optimize finite-time heat engines to compare the thermodynamic performance of the n-Müser engines under approximate terrestrial conditions (see below), we obtain that n=4 accomplishes the best performance. This same result was obtained by using data from the rest of planets of the solar system.

Keywords: Blackbody radiation; Heat transfer law; Curzon–Ahlborn engine; Müser engine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:444:y:2016:i:c:p:914-921

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2015.10.094

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