ABSTRACT
The process of fuel energy conversion to mechanical energy is governed by well-understood laws of thermodynamics. These impose severe limitations on the thermal performance of heatto-mechanical conversion devices, or heat engines, which depends greatly on the available heat source and the heat sink temperatures. Often, this means that huge quantities of low-temperature heat energy are rejected from industrial-scale power plants such as coal-red steam power plants. Even in modern combined cycle power plants where the heat source temperature can be as high as 1300°C, the maximum electrical efciencies are only about 50%. Hence, the impossibility of converting all fuel energy into useful work has led many energy consumers both large and small scale to adopt energy-efcient techniques such as combined heat and power (CHP) to reduce energy consumption and alleviate the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels.
