Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2017) 132: 45
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2017-11325-0

Regular Article

Optimal power and efficiency of quantum Stirling heat engines

¹ Institute of Thermal Science and Power Engineering, Naval University of Engineering, 430033, Wuhan, China
² School of Science, Wuhan Institute of Technology, 430073, Wuhan, China
³ Military Key Laboratory for Naval Ship Power Engineering, Naval University of Engineering, 430033, Wuhan, China
⁴ College of Power Engineering, Naval University of Engineering, 430033, Wuhan, China

^* e-mail: lingenchen@hotmail.com

Received: 12 November 2016
Accepted: 28 December 2016
Published online: 25 January 2017

Abstract

A quantum Stirling heat engine model is established in this paper in which imperfect regeneration and heat leakage are considered. A single particle which contained in a one-dimensional infinite potential well is studied, and the system consists of countless replicas. Each particle is confined in its own potential well, whose occupation probabilities can be expressed by the thermal equilibrium Gibbs distributions. Based on the Schrödinger equation, the expressions of power output and efficiency for the engine are obtained. Effects of imperfect regeneration and heat leakage on the optimal performance are discussed. The optimal performance region and the optimal values of important parameters of the engine cycle are obtained. The results obtained can provide some guidelines for the design of a quantum Stirling heat engine.