The effect of irreversibilities on the performance of a three-heat-source heat pump

An irreversible three-heat-source heat pump may be treated as a combined cycle of a finite-size irreversible Carnot heat engine driving an irreversible Carnot heat pump. The influence of thermal resistance and working fluid internal dissipation on the optimal performance of a three-heat-source heat pump is investigated by using a finite-time thermodynamic approach. The results obtained here are more realistic than those of classical thermodynamics.