Optimization of heat engines including the saving of natural resources and the reduction of thermal pollution

Abstract

The use of the new concept of a saving functionas a measure of possible reductions of undesired side effects in heat engine operation is proposed. Two saving functions are introduced, one associated with fuel consumption and another associated with thermal pollution. Two optimization paths including the maximization of power output and these saving functions are presented. The first is based on a linear formalism and the second is based on a power-law formalism. When these optimization criteria are applied to a Curzon-Ahlborn heat engine, both criteria lead to a very similar optimum efficiency, opt = 1- 3/4 , where is the ratio between the temperatures of the cold and the hot external reservoirs. A numerical comparison with the efficiency of some modern nuclear power plants is reported.