The minimum heat consumption and maximum productivity of a heat-driven separation process

in which the heat and mass transfer obey the linear phenomenological heat transfer law and linear mass transfer law in linear irreversible thermodynamics

is investigated.An analytical solution for the maximum efficiency of an endoreversible heat engine with the linear phenomenological heat transfer law for a given power output is obtained

and those of the minimum heat consumption and the maximum productivity of the heat-driven separation process are also obtained.The results with different heat transfer laws are compared.The results show that the heat transfer behavior has significant effects on the optimal performance of the heat-driven separation process.The results may be used to estimate the energy demand in a heat-driven separation process

and provide some theoretical guidelines for the optimal design and operation of practical separation processes.