2. Distribution of entropy production between sources and sinks

2.1 Endoreversibility

As a final example of a general property, we'll look at the optimal distribution of entropy production in a thermal transformation process involving several heat sources and sinks. The approach developed below is based on the notion of an endoreversible process, which we briefly introduce.

In other words, "internal" irreversibilities - those that do not involve external exchanges - are neglected. The advantage of this concept is that it allows partial optimization of the process (in terms of its exchanges with the outside...