Abstract
The thermoeconomic performance of a Novikov power plant model is analysed within the context of endoreversible thermodynamics by means of the concept of profit function. This function is defined in terms of the performing costs of the plant. The analysis uses two endoreversible optimisations approaches: the maximum power regime and the maximum modified ecological function. It is shown that under ecological conditions the plant dramatically reduces the amount of heat rejected to the environment, and a lost of profits is translated in a usage of fuels that reduces the heat rejected towards the environment in 50–57% respect to that of a maximum power regime. This reduction depends on the heat transfer law used in the Novikov engine. In the present study, three different heat transfer laws are used: the so called Newton's law of cooling, the Dulong–Petit's law of cooling and another linear phenomenological heat transfer law.