Optimal temperatures and maximum power output of a complex system with linear phenomenological heat transfer law

A complex system including several heat reservoirs, finite thermal capacity subsystems with different temperatures and a transformer (heat engine or refrigerator) with linear phenomenological heat transfer law [q ∞ Δ(T -1)] is studied by using finite time thermodynamics. The optimal temperatures of the subsystems and the transformer and the maximum power output (or the minimum power needed) of the system are obtained