Archive:000/Carnot's theorem: Difference between revisions
(Created page with "{{minor|(see Wikipedia page for more detail)}} General formula: efficiency_max = (t_hot - t_cold) / t_hot This describes how much usable work (physics energy) you can obtain from a ''difference of temperatures'' <code>t_hot</code> and <code>t_cold</code>. The temperatures must be measured in <code>kelvin</code> (or any other units that are relative to absolute zero). <code>efficiency_max</code> is a theoretical maximum energy efficiency, not quite obtainable in re...") |
m (Elie moved page Carnot's theorem to Archive:000/Carnot's theorem without leaving a redirect: Huge_refactor) |
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Latest revision as of 16:29, 26 October 2024
(see Wikipedia page for more detail)
General formula:
efficiency_max = (t_hot - t_cold) / t_hot
This describes how much usable work (physics energy) you can obtain from a difference of temperatures t_hot and t_cold. The temperatures must be measured in kelvin (or any other units that are relative to absolute zero). efficiency_max is a theoretical maximum energy efficiency, not quite obtainable in real life.
This applies...
- to any power plants that use a fuel to boil water to make steam to drive a turbine to generate electricity.
- This includes coal, natural gas, biomass and nuclear power.
- in reverse, to heat pumps and air conditioning.
- In this case, it's actually the inverse:
efficiency_max = t_hot / (t_hot - t_cold). In this case,efficiency_maxis greater than 1, and is higher when the temperature difference is smaller.
- In this case, it's actually the inverse: