Optimal Process Paths for Endoreversible Systems

Abstract

All energy transformation processes occurring in reality are irreversible and in many cases these irreversibilities must be included in a realistic description of such processes. Endoreversible thermodynamics is a non-equilibrium approach in this direction by viewing a system as a network of internally reversible (endoreversible) subsystems exchanging energy in an irreversible fashion. All irreversibilities are confined to the interaction between the subsystems. This review is dedicated to the dynamical investigation of such endoreversible systems. First the general framework for the endoreversible description of a system is briefly introduced, and then the necessary mathematical tools to determine optimal process paths for such systems are presented. These are complemented by simple examples for the application of the different methods. Then the optimal paths for endoreversible processes of increasing complexity are discussed: first the processes between given equilibrium states, and then cyclic processes. These are followed by a review of internal combustion engines and by a number of further selected applications. We conclude with an outlook to other areas of irreversible thermodynamics where path optimization methods have been successfully used.