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Power enhancement of heat engines via correlated thermalization in a three-level "working fluid".

ABSTRACT: We explore means of maximizing the power output of a heat engine based on a periodically-driven quantum system that is constantly coupled to hot and cold baths. It is shown that the maximal power output of such a heat engine whose "working fluid" is a degenerate V-type three-level system is that generated by two independent two-level systems. Hence, level degeneracy is a thermodynamic resource that may effectively double the power output. The efficiency, however, is not affected. We find that coherence is not an essential asset in such multilevel-based heat engines. The existence of two thermalization pathways sharing a common ground state suffices for power enhancement.

SUBMITTER: Gelbwaser-Klimovsky D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4585770 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Power enhancement of heat engines via correlated thermalization in a three-level "working fluid".

Gelbwaser-Klimovsky David D Niedenzu Wolfgang W Brumer Paul P Kurizki Gershon G

Scientific reports 20150923

We explore means of maximizing the power output of a heat engine based on a periodically-driven quantum system that is constantly coupled to hot and cold baths. It is shown that the maximal power output of such a heat engine whose "working fluid" is a degenerate V-type three-level system is that generated by two independent two-level systems. Hence, level degeneracy is a thermodynamic resource that may effectively double the power output. The efficiency, however, is not affected. We find that co ...[more]

PMID: 26394838

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Project description:Despite the remarkable success of Carnot's heat engine cycle in founding the discipline of thermodynamics two centuries ago, false viewpoints of his use of the caloric theory in the cycle linger, limiting his legacy. An action revision of the Carnot cycle can correct this, showing that the heat flow powering external mechanical work is compensated internally with configurational changes in the thermodynamic or Gibbs potential of the working fluid, differing in each stage of the cycle quantified by Carnot as caloric. Action (@) is a property of state having the same physical dimensions as angular momentum (mrv = mr2ω). However, this property is scalar rather than vectorial, including a dimensionless phase angle (@ = mr2ωδφ). We have recently confirmed with atmospheric gases that their entropy is a logarithmic function of the relative vibrational, rotational, and translational action ratios with Planck's quantum of action ħ. The Carnot principle shows that the maximum rate of work (puissance motrice) possible from the reversible cycle is controlled by the difference in temperature of the hot source and the cold sink: the colder the better. This temperature difference between the source and the sink also controls the isothermal variations of the Gibbs potential of the working fluid, which Carnot identified as reversible temperature-dependent but unequal caloric exchanges. Importantly, the engine's inertia ensures that heat from work performed adiabatically in the expansion phase is all restored to the working fluid during the adiabatic recompression, less the net work performed. This allows both the energy and the thermodynamic potential to return to the same values at the beginning of each cycle, which is a point strongly emphasized by Carnot. Our action revision equates Carnot's calorique, or the non-sensible heat later described by Clausius as 'work-heat', exclusively to negative Gibbs energy (-G) or quantum field energy. This action field complements the sensible energy or vis-viva heat as molecular kinetic motion, and its recognition should have significance for designing more efficient heat engines or better understanding of the heat engine powering the Earth's climates.

Dataset Information

Power enhancement of heat engines via correlated thermalization in a three-level "working fluid".

Publications

Power enhancement of heat engines via correlated thermalization in a three-level "working fluid".

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