The purpose of this paper is to establish a model of an irreversible quantum Brayton engine using many noninteracting spin systems as the working substance and consisting of two irreversible adiabatic and two isomagnetic field processes. The time evolution of the total magnetic moment M is determined by solving the generalized quantum master equation of an open system in the Heisenberg picture. The time of two irreversible adiabatic processes is considered based on finite-rate evolution. The relationship between the power output P and the efficiency eta for the irreversible quantum Brayton engine with spin systems is derived. The optimally operating region (or criteria) for the engine is determined. The influences of these important parameters on the performances (P and eta) of the engine are discussed. The results obtained herein will be useful for the further understanding and the selection of the optimal operating conditions for an irreversible quantum Brayton engine with spin systems.
The purpose of this paper is to establish a model of an irreversible quantum Brayton engine using many noninteracting spin systems as the working substance and consisting of two irreversible adiabatic and two isomagnetic field processes. The time evolution of the total magnetic moment M is determined by solving the generalized quantum master equation of an open system in the Heisenberg picture. The time of two irreversible adiabatic processes is considered based on finite-rate evolution. The relationship between the power output P and the efficiency eta for the irreversible quantum Brayton engine with spin systems is derived. The optimally operating region (or criteria) for the engine is determined. The influences of these important parameters on the performances (P and eta) of the engine are discussed. The results obtained herein will be useful for the further understanding and the selection of the optimal operating conditions for an irreversible quantum Brayton engine with spin systems.
It is considered that the cycle of a quantum heat engine using many non-interacting spin-1/2 systems as the working substance is composed of two adiabatic and two isomagnetic field processes and is referred to as a spin quantum Brayton engine cycle. Based on the quantum master equation and semi-group approach, expressions for the efficiency and power output of the cycle are derived. By using numerical solutions, the power output of the heat engine subject to finite cycle duration is optimized. The maximum power output and the corresponding parameters are calculated numerically. The optimal region of the efficiency and the optimal ranges of temperatures of the working substance and times spent on the two isomagnetic field processes are determined, so that the general optimum performance characteristics of the cycle are revealed. Moreover, the optimal performance of the cycle in the high-temperature limit is also analysed in detail. The results obtained here are further generalized, so that they may be directly used to describe the performance of a quantum Brayton heat engine using spin-J systems as the working substance.
The purpose of this paper is to study the optimal performance for an irreversible quantum Brayton engine consisting of two constant-frequency branches connected by two irreversible adiabatic branches. The solution of the generalized quantum master equation of a thermal system is obtained in the Heisenberg picture. The optimization region (or criteria) for an irreversible quantum Brayton engine is obtained. The relationship between the dimensionless power output P* versus efficiency η for the irreversible quantum Brayton engine with heat leakage and other irreversible losses are derived.
The general performance characteristics of an irreversible quantum refrigeration cycle using many non-interacting spin-1/2 systems as the working substance and consisting of two adiabatic and two isomagnetic field processes are investigated, based on the quantum master equation and semi-group approach. Expressions for several important performance parameters such as the coefficient of performance, cooling rate and power input are derived. By using numerical solutions, the cooling rate of the refrigeration cycle subject to the finite cycle duration is optimized. The maximum cooling rate and the corresponding parameters are calculated numerically. The optimal region of the coefficient of performance and the optimal ranges of the temperatures of the working substance and the times spent on the two isomagnetic field processes are determined. Moreover, the optimal performance of the cycle in the high-temperature limit is also analysed in detail. The results obtained here are further generalized, so that they may be directly used to describe the performance of the quantum refrigeration cycle using spin- J systems as the working substance.
An irreversible cycle model of a quantum heat engine with internal friction is established, which is composed of two adiabatic and two isomagnetic field processes. The working substance of the cycle consists of an ensemble of many non-interacting spin-1/2 systems. Based on a quantum master equation and semi-group approach, the general performance characteristics of the heat engine are investigated. The general expressions for several important parameters, such as the efficiency, power output, and rate of the entropy production, are derived. The performance of the cycle is optimized with respect to the temperatures of the working substance. By numerical solutions, the maximum power output and the corresponding parameters are calculated. The optimal regions of efficiency, temperatures of the working substance, and cycle period are determined. Moreover, the performance of the heat engine in the frictionless case is obtained, which is different from that in the friction case. Finally, the results obtained are generalized to the performance optimization of the heat engine working with spin-J systems.
A new model of a quantum refrigeration cycle composed of two adiabatic and two isomagnetic field processes is established. The working substance in the cycle consists of many non-interacting spin-1/2 systems. The performance of the cycle is investigated, based on the quantum master equation and semi-group approach. The general expressions of several important performance parameters, such as the coefficient of performance, cooling rate and power input, are given. It is found that the coefficient of performance of this cycle is in the closest analogy to that of the classical Carnot cycle. Furthermore, at high temperatures the optimal relations of the cooling rate and the maximum cooling rate are analysed in detail. Some performance characteristic curves of the cycle are plotted, such as the cooling rate versus the maximum ratio between high and low ``temperatures'' of the working substances, the maximum cooling rate versus the ratio between high and low ``magnetic fields'' and the ``temperature'' ratio between high and low reservoirs. The obtained results are further generalized and discussed, so that they may be directly applied to describing the performance of the quantum refrigerator using spin- J systems as the working substance. Finally, the optimum characteristics of the quantum Carnot and Ericsson refrigeration cycles are derived by analogy.
An irreversible model of a quantum refrigeration cycle working with many noninteracting harmonic oscillators is established. The refrigeration cycle consists of two adiabatic and two constant-frequency processes. The general performance characteristics of the cycle are investigated, based on the quantum master equation and the semigroup approach. The expressions for several important performance parameters such as the coefficient of performance, cooling rate, power input, and rate of entropy production are derived. By using numerical solutions, the cooling rate of the refrigeration cycle subject to finite cycle duration is optimized. The maximum cooling rate and the corresponding parameters are calculated numerically. The optimal region of the coefficient of performance and the optimal ranges of temperatures of the working substance and times spent on the two constant-frequency processes are determined. Moreover, the optimal performance of the cycle in the high-temperature limit is compared with that of a classical Brayton refrigerator working with an ideal gas. The results obtained here show that in the high-temperature limit a harmonic quantum Brayton cycle may be equivalent to a classical Brayton cycle.