Thermodynamic energy conversion efficiencies

Landsberg, P. T.; Tonge, G.

doi:10.1063/1.328187

Cited by 261 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…P.T. Landsberg (1923Landsberg ( -2010 published the review of works on thermodynamics of nonequilibrium radiation [6].…”

Section: The General Considerationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radioactivity in the Light of the Fundamental Law of Physics

Chukova¹

2017

RAD Conference Proceedings

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Abstract. One of the fundamental laws of physics is the law of the efficiency of conversion of one kind of energy into another which was formulated in the second half of the 20-th century for the whole region of electromagnetic radiation. On the basis of this law for weak influences (isothermal processes), the whole region of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation breaks up in two parts, strictly corresponding to the W. Wien region and the RayleighJeans region, in which efficiency laws are essentially various. Gamma radiation is the most high-energy part of electromagnetic radiation. It is the top frequency boundary for the W. Wien region. The efficiency of conversion of energy for different frequencies of the W. Wien region in the approach of reversible process has been considered. The influence of irreversibility on the conversion of energy in a system for a value of efficiency has been shown. The features of laws of the efficiency of conversion for endergonic and exergonic processes are considered.

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“…P.T. Landsberg (1923Landsberg ( -2010 published the review of works on thermodynamics of nonequilibrium radiation [6].…”

Section: The General Considerationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radioactivity in the Light of the Fundamental Law of Physics

Chukova¹

2017

RAD Conference Proceedings

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“…Fundamental constraints on nonreciprocal thermal radiation are specifically important in determining the limit of thermal energy conversion. For example, it is known that the Landsberg limit for conversion of thermal radiation (such as solar radiation) to electricity (23), which represents the upper thermodynamic limit in terms of efficiency for such conversion, can be achieved only in systems where the reciprocity is broken (24,25).…”

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confidence: 99%

Universal modal radiation laws for all thermal emitters

Miller

Zhu

Fan

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

112

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We derive four laws relating the absorptivity and emissivity of thermal emitters. Unlike the original Kirchhoff radiation law derivations, these derivations include diffraction, and so are valid also for small objects, and can also cover nonreciprocal objects. The proofs exploit two recent approaches. First, we express all fields in terms of the mode-converter basis sets of beams; these sets, which can be uniquely established for any linear optical object, give orthogonal input beams that are coupled one-by-one to orthogonal output beams. Second, we consider thought experiments using universal linear optical machines, which allow us to couple appropriate beams and black bodies. Two of these laws can be regarded as rigorous extensions of previously known laws: One gives a modal version of a radiation law for reciprocal objects-the absorptivity of any input beam equals the emissivity into the "backward" (i.e., phase-conjugated) version of that beam; another gives the overall equality of the sums of the emissivities and the absorptivities for any object, including nonreciprocal ones. The other two laws, valid for reciprocal and nonreciprocal objects, are quite different from previous relations. One shows universal equivalence of the absorptivity of each mode-converter input beam and the emissivity into its corresponding scattered output beam. The other gives unexpected equivalences of absorptivity and emissivity for broad classes of beams. Additionally, we prove these orthogonal mode-converter sets of input and output beams are the ones that maximize absorptivities and emissivities, respectively, giving these beams surprising additional physical meaning.Kirchhoff radiation laws | thermal radiation | optical modes | solar energy conversion | mode conversion R adiation laws relating the absorptivity and emissivity of an object are at the core of the thermal physics of radiation and are particularly interesting for understanding limits to efficiency of solar energy conversion (e.g., refs. 1 and 2), for example. The core relation is Kirchhoff's radiation law (3-6), which equates the absorptivity and emissivity of a surface. This law is often extended to a "directional" version, which equates the absorptivity of a given direction of input beam and the emissivity into the opposite or "reversed" direction. Typical textbook approaches (5, 6) to the directional law trace back to Planck's rederivation (4) of Kirchhoff's approach (3). Both Kirchhoff's and Planck's treatments explicitly make two assumptions: (i) The optical properties of the object are reciprocal (e.g., excluding Faraday rotation); (ii) diffraction is neglected, presuming objects much larger than a wavelength and using ray rather than wave optics. It is, however, now known that such a directional radiation law is not correct for nonreciprocal systems (1, 7), and nanophotonic structures for the control of thermal radiation (8-22) can have feature sizes much smaller than the wavelength. Given the fundamental thermodynamic importance and the technological relevan...

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“…Unlike the thermodynamic limits (Landsberg & Tonge, 1980), the limit efficiency considered in the Shockley-Queisser detailed balance model of single-gap solar cell (SGSC) (Shockley & Queisser, 1961) incorporates information on the band structure of the semiconductor and the basic physics. The model includes a number of fundamental assumptions, which allow to evaluate, question and discuss its correctness.…”

Section: Single Gap Solar Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%