ENDOREVERSIBLE THERMODYNAMICS AND CHEMICAL-REACTIONS

Endoreversible processes were originally modeled as the following special class of irreversible processes: In endoreversible processes the irreversibilities are all located in the transport of heat from the heat sources to the heat engine and from the heat engine to the heat sinks. The present paper demonstrates that it is advantageous to generalize this definition as follows: In endoreversible processes all irreversibilities are located in the transport of heat and/or matter from the heat and/or matter sources to the engine and from the engine to the heat and/or matter sinks. We demonstrate how this generalization allows us to model a class of chemical reactors in the same way as endoreversible heat engines.