Thermo-economics of an irreversible solar driven heat engine

Abstract

Thermo-economic optimization has to be carried out for an irreversible solar driven heat engine using finite-time/finite-size thermodynamic theory. In the considered heat engine model, heat transfer from the hot reservoir is assumed to be radiation mode and the heat transfer to the cold reservoir is assumed to be convection mode. The power output per unit total cost is taken as the objective function. The steps of problem formulation are rightly performed and all valid assumptions are taken into consideration. The effects of the irreversibility parameter, economical parameter and the design parameters on the thermo-economic objective function have been investigated.