The Physical Optimum as an Ideal Reference Value for Balancing Thermodynamic Processes Integrating the Exergetic Evaluation by the Example of Heat Supply

This paper contains the basic definition and application of the physical optimum as a method for process evaluation and optimization. By means of the exemplary balance of a wood pellet-fired boiler, the conventional efficiency is compared to the PhO. Furthermore, this study demonstrates the possibility of applying the thermodynamic state variable exergy as a physical reference property of a system within the PhO method. To explain the approach, the heat generation in the wood pellet-fired boiler is compared to the supply from a heat pump, which itself is connected to a power plant. Furthermore, the process-independent PhO is explained in order to illustrate the limitations of feasible optimization. Additionally, possible research topics such as the inte-gration of dynamic behavior in the method are approached. As a conclusion, the differences be-tween the methods outline the advantage of the PhO in the optimization process.