ENERGY, cilt.18, sa.6, ss.651-655, 1993 (SCI-Expanded)
By employing an endoreversible heat-engine model, the design parameters of a heat engine operating under radiative heat-transfer conditions were examined to find the maximum power output. It was found that the ratio of the cold to the hot reservoir temperature must be less than 0.2 for an optimal design. Increasing the heat-transfer area of the cold side rather than that of the hot side improves the thermal efficiency. When the temperature ratio is greater than 0.6. the efficiency of such a cycle approaches that of Curzon and Ahlborn.