Route towards the optimization at given power of thermoelectric heat engines with broken time-reversal symmetry
Abstract
We investigate the performance at a given power of a thermoelectric heat engine with broken time-reversal symmetry, and derive analytically the efficiency at a given power of a thermoelectric generator within linear irreversible thermodynamics. A universal bound on the efficiency of the thermoelectric heat engine is achieved under a strong constraint on the Onsager coefficients, and some interesting features are further revealed. Our results demonstrate that there exists a trade-off between efficiency and power output, and the efficiency at a given power may surpass the Curzon-Ahlborn limit due to broken time-reversal symmetry. Moreover, optimal efficiency at a given power can be achieved, which indicates that broken time-reversal symmetry offers physically allowed ways to optimize the performance of heat engines. Our study may contribute to the interesting guidelines for optimizing actual engines.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review E
- Pub Date:
- August 2017
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevE.96.022133
- Bibcode:
- 2017PhRvE..96b2133Z