摘要

We show the validity of some results of finite-time thermodynamics, also within the quasi-static framework of classical thermodynamics. First, we consider the efficiency at maximum work (eta(0)) from finite source and sink modelled as identical thermodynamic systems. The near-equilibrium regime is characterized by expanding the internal energy up to second order (i.e. up to linear response) in the difference of initial entropies of the source and the sink. It is shown that the efficiency is given by a universal expression 2 eta(C)/(4 - eta(C)), where eta(C) is the Carnot efficiency. Then, different sizes of source and sink are treated, by combining different numbers of copies of the same thermodynamic system. The efficiency of this process is found to be eta(0) = eta(C)/(

  • 出版日期2016-1