Endoreversible Thermodynamics

All energy transformation processes occurring in reality are irreversible and in many cases these irreversibilities must be included in a realistic description of such processes. Endoreversible thermodynamics is a non-equilibrium approach in this direction by viewing a system as a network of internally reversible (endore-versible) subsystems exchanging energy in an irreversible fashion. All irreversibili-ties are connned to the interaction between the subsystems. In this review a general framework for the endoreversible description of a system is presented, followed by a discussion of the performance of such systems. Thereafter the scope of the review is narrowed to time-independent stationary or cyclicly operating systems. We present the endoreversible theory of heat engines, and give an overview over the different heat transfer laws used in the entropy interactions between the subsystems. Also engine cycles diierent from the Carnot cycle and internal irreversibilities as well as the design optimization for such systems are discussed. These aspects are also important in the description of refrigerators and heat pumps which follows. Then combined and staged systems comprising several subsystems and their performance are reviewed and we conclude with a presentation of selected applications of endoreversible thermodynamics.