ePrints@IIScePrints@IISc Home | About | Browse | Latest Additions | Advanced Search | Contact | Help

Overcoming power-efficiency tradeoff in a micro heat engine by engineered system-bath interactions

Krishnamurthy, S and Ganapathy, R and Sood, AK (2023) Overcoming power-efficiency tradeoff in a micro heat engine by engineered system-bath interactions. In: Nature Communications, 14 (1).

[img]
Preview
PDF
Nat_com_14_2023.pdf - Published Version

Download (1MB) | Preview
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42350-y

Abstract

All real heat engines, be it conventional macro engines or colloidal and atomic micro engines, inevitably tradeoff efficiency in their pursuit to maximize power. This basic postulate of finite-time thermodynamics has been the bane of all engine design for over two centuries and all optimal protocols implemented hitherto could at best minimize only the loss in the efficiency. The absence of a protocol that allows engines to overcome this limitation has prompted theoretical studies to suggest universality of the postulate in both passive and active engines. Here, we experimentally overcome the power-efficiency tradeoff in a colloidal Stirling engine by selectively reducing relaxation times over only the isochoric processes using system bath interactions generated by electrophoretic noise. Our approach opens a window of cycle times where the tradeoff is reversed and enables the engine to surpass even their quasistatic efficiency. Our strategies finally cut loose engine design from fundamental restrictions and pave way for the development of more efficient and powerful engines and devices. © 2023, The Author(s).

Item Type: Journal Article
Publication: Nature Communications
Publisher: Nature Research
Additional Information: The copyright for this article belongs to authors.
Keywords: design method; energy efficiency; engine; thermodynamics; trade-off, article; electrophoresis; heat; noise; relaxation time
Department/Centre: Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited: 28 Feb 2024 09:58
Last Modified: 28 Feb 2024 09:58
URI: https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/83653

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item