Endoreversible Carnot machines with long-time reversible limit (opens in new tab)

The well-known Curzon-Ahlborn (CA) engine [Am. J. Phys. {\bf 43}, 22 (1975)] runs in finite time and yields a finite power output. In order to recover the standard Carnot cycle from the CA model, the limit of quasi-static operation has to be concurrent with the reversible limit, a condition strangely missing from the CA model. We augment this model by specifying the duration of the isothermal process as a monotonic decreasing function of the tem...