We study the optimal performance of a three-level quantum refrigerator using two different objective functions: cooling power and χ function. For both cases, we obtain general expressions for the coefficient of performance (COP) and derive its well-known lower and upper bounds for the limiting cases when the ratio of system-bath coupling constants at the hot and cold contacts approaches infinity and zero, respectively. We also show that the cooling power can be maximized with respect to one control frequency, while χ function can be maximized globally with respect to two control frequencies. Additionally, we show that in the low-temperature regime, our model of refrigerator can be mapped to Feynman's ratchet and pawl model, a classical mesoscopic heat engine. In the parameter regime where both cooling power and χ function can be maximized, we compare the cooling power of the quantum refrigerator at maximum χ function with the maximum cooling power.
We study the optimal performance of a three-level quantum refrigerator using two different objective functions: cooling power and χ function. For both cases, we obtain general expressions for the coefficient of performance (COP) and derive its well-known lower and upper bounds for the limiting cases when the ratio of system-bath coupling constants at the hot and cold contacts approaches infinity and zero, respectively. We also show that the cooling power can be maximized with respect to one control frequency, while χ function can be maximized globally with respect to two control frequencies. Additionally, we show that in the low-temperature regime, our model of refrigerator can be mapped to Feynman's ratchet and pawl model, a classical mesoscopic heat engine. In the parameter regime where both cooling power and χ function can be maximized, we compare the cooling power of the quantum refrigerator at maximum χ function with the maximum cooling power.
Abstract We present the quantum Otto machine under different optimization criterion when function either as a heat engine or a refrigerator. We examine the optimal performance of the heat engine and refrigerator depending on their efficiency, output power and maximum entropy production. For heat engine case, we obtain the expression for the upper and lower bounds efficiencies at maximum power and maximum ecological function. The optimal ecological performance is laying between the maximum efficiency and the maximum power output. On the other hand, the quantum Otto refrigerator coefficient of performance is optimized for three different criterion – cooling power, χ criterion(product of performance and power) and ecological function. We further study the dimen-sionless power loss to the cold reservoir when the machine is operating as a heat engine as well as its counterpart for the refrigerator case. We find that the maximum operation of the heat engine (refrigerator) cycle is when optimized with respect to hot (cold) reservoir frequency.
We present a detailed study of a three-level quantum heat engine operating at maximum efficient power function, a trade-off objective function defined by the product of the efficiency and power output of the engine.The efficient power function represents a trade-off between the power output and efficiency of a heat engine.Engines working in the maximum efficient power regime operate at finite power, with finite efficiency lying in between the regimes of maximum power and maximum efficiency (Carnot efficiency).First, for near-equilibrium conditions, we find a general expression for the efficiency and establish the universal nature of efficiency at maximum power and maximum efficient power.Then in the high-temperature limit, optimizing with respect to one parameter while constraining the other one, we obtain the lower and upper bounds on the efficiency for both strong as well as weak matter-field coupling conditions.Except for the weak matter-field coupling condition, the obtained bounds on the efficiency exactly match with the bounds already known for some models of classical heat engines.Further for weak matter-field coupling, we derive some new bounds on the efficiency of the engine which lie beyond the range covered by bounds obtained for strong matter-field coupling.We conclude by comparing the performance of our three-level quantum heat engine in maximum power and maximum efficient power regimes and show that the engine operating at maximum efficient power produces at least 88.89% of the maximum power output while considerably reducing the power loss due to entropy production.Finally, to complete our analysis, we review the experimental setup of a recently realized effective three-level quantum engine.
The derivation of general performance benchmarks is important in the design of highly optimized heat engines and refrigerators. To obtain them, one may model phenomenologically the leading sources of irreversibility ending up with results that are model independent, but limited in scope. Alternatively, one can take a simple physical system realizing a thermodynamic cycle and assess its optimal operation from a complete microscopic description. We follow this approach in order to derive the coefficient of performance at maximum cooling rate for any endoreversible quantum refrigerator. At striking variance with the universality of the optimal efficiency of heat engines, we find that the cooling performance at maximum power is crucially determined by the details of the specific system-bath interaction mechanism. A closed analytical benchmark is found for endoreversible refrigerators weakly coupled to unstructured bosonic heat baths: an ubiquitous case study in quantum thermodynamics.
The study of nanoscopic thermal devices attracts an increasing attention, not only because of their key role in understanding the emergence of thermodynamics from quantum theory, but also for the potential use of quantum-mechanical thermal cycles, especially refrigerators, in quantum technologies. This thesis, is devoted to the performance optimization of autonomous (heat-driven) refrigerators. For a quantum refrigerator, one has a full microscopic description of the simple system serving as a working medium, and of its interaction with the external heat baths. This enables a consistent `finite-time? thermodynamic analysis, not relying on any phenomenological assumptions about the leading sources of irreversibility, and allows to establish arguably general performance bounds, essential to benchmark the operation of realistic devices. In particular, tight and model-independent upper bounds for the coefficient of performance at maximum power, are derived here for a class of strongly coupled refrigerators, and seen to hold more generally for other types of heat and power-driven cycles. Remarkably, these ultimate limitations only depend on the particulars of the system-baths interaction at the interface with the object to be cooled. Strategies might be then defined so as to saturate those limits: It is shown how the working medium of the refrigerator may be, for instance, scaled up into a parallel multi-stage configuration, resembling that of macroscopic multi-effect absorption chillers, as a means to increase its cooling power. Similarly, by applying reservoir engineering techniques on selected transitions between the energy states of the working medium, one can mimic exploitable non-equilibrium fluctuations in the baths, capable of boosting the overall power and COP beyond what would be otherwise allowed by the second law of thermodynamics. In this way, heat-driven chillers could be set to compete on a equal footing with the best power-driven refrigerators.
We propose a quantum absorption refrigerator driven by photons. The model uses a four-level system as its working substance and couples simultaneously to hot, cold, and solar heat reservoirs. Explicit expressions for the cooling power Q̇(c) and coefficient of performance (COP) η(COP) are derived, with the purpose of revealing and optimizing the performance of the device. Our model runs most efficiently under the tight coupling condition, and it is consistent with the third law of thermodynamics in the limit T→0.
A two-level atomic system as a working substance is used to set up a refrigerator consisting of two quantum adiabatic and two isochoric processes (two constant-frequency processes ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{a}$ and ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{b}$ with ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{a}<{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{b})$, during which the two-level system is in contact with two heat reservoirs at temperatures Th and Tc(<Th). Considering finite-time operation of two isochoric processes, we derive analytical expressions for cooling rate R and coefficient of performance (COP) $\ensuremath{\varepsilon}$. The COP at maximum $\ensuremath{\chi}(=\ensuremath{\varepsilon}R)$ figure of merit is numerically determined, and it is proved to be in nice agreement with the so-called Curzon and Ahlborn COP ${\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}_{\text{CA}}=\sqrt{1+{\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}_{C}}\ensuremath{-}1$, where ${\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}_{C}={T}_{c}/({T}_{h}\ensuremath{-}{T}_{c})$ is the Carnot COP. In the high-temperature limit, the COP at maximum $\ensuremath{\chi}$ figure of merit, ${\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}^{*}$, can be expressed analytically by ${\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}^{*}={\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}_{+}\ensuremath{\equiv}(\sqrt{9+8{\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}_{C}}\ensuremath{-}3)/2$, which was derived previously as the upper bound of optimal COP for the low-dissipation or minimally nonlinear irreversible refrigerators. Within the context of irreversible thermodynamics, we prove that the value of ${\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}_{+}$ is also the upper bound of COP at maximum $\ensuremath{\chi}$ figure of merit when we regard our model as a linear irreversible refrigerator.