Global Stability Analysis of a Curzon–Ahlborn Heat Engine under Different Regimes of Performance

Abstract

We present a global stability analysis of a Curzon–Ahlborn heat engine considering different regimes of performance. The stability theory is used to construct the Lyapunov functions to prove the asymptotic stability behavior around the steady state of internal temperatures. We provide a general analytic procedure for the description of the global stability by considering internal irreversibilities and a linear heat transfer law at the thermal couplings. The conditions of the global stability are explored for three regimes of performance: maximum power (MP), efficient power (EP) and the so-called ecological function (EF). Moreover, the analytical results were corroborated by means of numerical integrations, which fully validate the properties of the global asymptotic stability.

Keywords

• heat engine
• global stability analysis
• regimes of performance
• finite time thermodynamics