One famous limit of thermodynamics is that heat engines, like steam engines and internal combustion engines, must be less efficient than a Carnot heat engine (a heat engine cycle designed by French ...

Just how small can you make an engine? Two researchers from the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Valentin Blickle and Clemens Bechinger, successfully ...

One of the basic truths learned in college thermodynamics courses is that no heat-activated cycle can be devised that is more efficient than a Carnot cycle operating between the same temperature ...

The key to understanding the proposed LNG revaporization processes that follow is that the temperature difference between the heat source (a→a’) and the heat sink supplied by the liquid methane (1→4) ...

Nelson Ireson June 6, 2008 Comment Now! Novel technologies to improve the efficiency of existing vehicles and combustion processes are the quickest route to improved fuel mileage. Hybrid cars are ...

Steam engines run because of statistics — the particles in the machine have a predictable overall behavior, which drives the engine’s piston up and down. But if you shrink the engine down to ...