Endoreversible Carnot machines with long-time reversible limit
Abstract
The well-known Curzon-Ahlborn (CA) engine [Am. J. Phys. {\bf 43}, 22 (1975)] runs in finite time and yields a finite power output. In order to recover the standard Carnot cycle from the CA model, the limit of quasi-static operation has to be concurrent with the reversible limit, a condition strangely missing from the CA model. We augment this model by specifying the duration of the isothermal process as a monotonic decreasing function of the temperature difference between the working substance and the reservoir. As an illustration, we analyze the machine's operation in the low-dissipation (LD) regime in which the entropy production in each isothermal branch is inversely proportional to the duration of the process. The modified model, while retaining the optimal features of the CA model, also yields explicit expressions for the optimal durations of isothermal processes. We compare the optimal cycle periods of the present model and the LD model, and show their agreement in the linear response regime.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{johal2026endoreversible,
title = {{Endoreversible Carnot machines with long-time reversible limit}},
author = {Ramandeep S. Johal and Rajeshree Chakraborty},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.16314},
eprint = {2606.16314},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.16314},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Endoreversible Carnot machines with long-time reversible limit
AU - Ramandeep S. Johal
AU - Rajeshree Chakraborty
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/11
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2606.16314
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.16314
AB - The well-known Curzon-Ahlborn (CA) engine [Am. J. Phys. {\bf 43}, 22 (1975)] runs in finite time and yields a finite power output. In order to recover the standard Carnot cycle from the CA model, the limit of quasi-static operation has to be concurrent with the reversible limit, a condition strangely missing from the CA model. We augment this model by specifying the duration of the isothermal process as a monotonic decreasing function of the temperature difference between the working substance and the reservoir. As an illustration, we analyze the machine's operation in the low-dissipation (LD) regime in which the entropy production in each isothermal branch is inversely proportional to the duration of the process. The modified model, while retaining the optimal features of the CA model, also yields explicit expressions for the optimal durations of isothermal processes. We compare the optimal cycle periods of the present model and the LD model, and show their agreement in the linear response regime.
ER -