Unified optimization criterion for energy converters

Abstract

We propose a unified optimization criterion for energy converters. It represents the best compromise between energy benefits and losses for a specific job and neither an explicit evaluation of entropies nor the consideration of environmental parameters are required. For all considered systems the criterion predicts a performance regime laying between those of maximum efficiency and maximum useful energy. Such regime has been invoked as optimum not only in macroscopic heat engines but also in some molecular motors.

Feynman’s Ratchet and Pawl with Ecological Criterion: Optimal Performance versus Estimation with Prior Information

“…Here, the interest is to optimize the performance of heat devices operating with non-zero rates of, say, heat transfer, or energy conversion. The most commonly used optimization criteria are power output [1], Ω criterion [24] and ecological criterion [25]. Some authors also use minimum entropy production criterion to optimize the performance of heat devices [26,27].…”

Coefficient of performance for a low-dissipation Carnot-like refrigerator with nonadiabatic dissipation

“…Based on the χ figure of merit, Wang et al [21] obtained the lower and upper bounds of the COP and showed that these bounds can be achieved in extremely asymmetric dissipation limits. Very recently, C. de Tomás et al [19] studied the low-dissipation heat devices and obtained the bounds of COP under general and symmetric conditions, by applying the unified Ω optimization criterion, which was first proposed in [23] to consider a compromise between energy benefits and losses for a specific job. This criterion has been applied to the performance optimization on a wide variety of energy converters [24][25][26].…”

Fluctuations in the Energetic Properties of a Spark-Ignition Engine Model with Variability

“…However, in real engines, the presence of such bifurcations have not been found [1]. In any case, for typical φ-values of real engines, the zone of these bifurcation-like behaviors are outside the typical optima values of power and efficiency, which usually are within the region that represents a good compromise between both high power and high efficiency [26,33,34]. For completeness, we show in Figure 9 a 3D plot in which the scatter plot of the three considered energetic functions at different fuel ratios are displayed.…”