ABSTRACT
In the previous chapters we discussed separately reversible and irreversible processes. Now we introduce endoreversible thermodynamics where real systems are modeled by combining reversible and irreversible subsystems. This leads then to relations between efficiency and power output as introduced in Section 1.2. Endoreversible thermodynamics goes back to work by Chambadal [Cha57] and Novikov [Nov58], and became most famous from a paper by Curzon and Ahlborn [CA75]. There exist a number of simple cases with large didactic value, because they can explain important general results for the behavior of realistic, irreversible thermodynamic engines on a rather fundamental level [HBS97, DV08]. This chapter aims to provide an easy introduction with illustrative examples.
