On Thermodynamic Aspects of the Efficient Power Engineering

ABSTRACT

The possibility of using the statically non-equilibrium systems to increase the power cycle efficiency is investigated here. A method of dynamic equilibrium that was applied in this analysis allows the differences of energy potentials between a system and an environment as additional components of the equations of system state to be taken into account. In this model, a dependence of entropy not only on the thermal effects, as usually, but on the mechanical ones is considered too. Besides, the adiabatic processes running with entropy decreasing are feasible here as well. The consequence of such an approach is the opportunity of creating new regenerative cycles with high efficiency for both the powergenerating systems and the refrigeration ones. The closing of such cycles in this case can be carried out with the transformation of the consumed mechanical energy not only into the thermal energy, as usual, but also into the kinetic energy. The second law of thermodynamics does not put obstacles to extra improvement of the cycle efficiency since for the open systems the performance of a cycle can be determined by the relative difference of temperatures of the working fluid (but not necessarily by the temperatures of the thermal sources) at the upper and lower temperature levels of the cycle. The received results satisfy the general laws of conservation and completely coincide with the classical approach in the quasistatic approximation. They create the necessary prerequisites for an effective energy development.