Finite-time thermodynamics. Active potentiostatting

The paper addresses minimization of the dissipation in systems maintaining constant temperature or other constant intensive variables (potentiostatted systems). The entropy production and energy consumption of such systems are reduced from those of the traditional scheme if additional chambers are interposed between the system and its surroundings, in which intermediate values of thermodynamic potentials are maintained. The analysis is applied to a cryogenic system but it can be extended to high-temperature systems and to the systems in which insulation from mass transfer (constant chemical potential) or electrical conductivity (constant electrical potential) is maintained.