Local stability analysis of a thermo-economic model of a Chambadal-Novikov-Curzon-Ahlborn heat engine (Q400925)

Summary: In this work we present a local stability analysis of the thermo-economic model of an irreversible heat engine working at maximum power conditions. The thermo-economic model is based on the maximization of a benefit function which is defined by the ratio of the power output and the total cost involved in the plant's performance. Our study shows that, after a small perturbation, the system decays exponentially to the steady state determined by two different relaxation times. In particular, we show that the relaxation times are function of the temperature ratio \(\tau=T_2/T_1(T_1>T_2)\), the cost function \(f\) and the parameter \(R\) (a parameter related to the degree of internal irreversibilities). We observe that the stability of the system improves as \(\tau\) increases whereas for changes in \(f\) and \(R\), the stability properties are characterized by a rapid decay along the fast eigendirection as \(f\) increases and \(R\) decreases. Finally, we discuss our results in the context of energetic properties.