https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2006-00060-x
Thermoeconomic analysis of an irreversible Stirling heat pump cycle
I.T.I.S. “A. Volta”, Spalto Marengo 42, 15100 Alessandria, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica Sperimentale, Università di Torino, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy
Corresponding authors: a umberto.lucia@istruzione.it - b gervino@to.infn.it
Received:
19
September
2005
Revised:
13
December
2005
Published online:
20
February
2006
In this paper an analysis of the Stirling cycle in thermoeconomic terms is developed using the entropy generation. In the thermoeconomic optimization of an irreversible Stirling heat pump cycle the F function has been introduced to evaluate the optimum for the higher and lower sources temperature ratio in the cycle: this ratio represents the value which optimizes the cycle itself. The variation of the function F is proportional to the variation of the entropy generation, the maxima and minima of F has been evaluated in a previous paper without giving the physical foundation of the method. We investigate the groundwork of this approach: to study the upper and lower limits of F function allows to determine the cycle stability and the optimization conditions. The optimization consists in the best COP at the least cost. The principle of maximum variation for the entropy generation becomes the analytic foundation of the optimization method in the thermoeconomic analysis for an irreversible Stirling heat pump cycle.
PACS: 89.65.Gh – Economics; econophysics, financial markets, business and management / 05.70.-a – Thermodynamics
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2006