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Research was conducted to examine work at maximum power for a general family of internally reversible Stirling-like cycles through a cycle time minimization procedure. The approach was shown to simultaneously minimize internal entropy generation while maximizing specific work for the cycle between the optimized operating temperatures at the hot and cold ends. Results are in line with observations that the simultaneous use of entropy and energy balances as the prerequisite for meaningful analyses of thermal processes.

The optimum thermoelectric cooler (TEC), in a TEC system in which thermal resistance of heat exchangers is minimized, is investigated to maximize the coefficient of performance and the exergetic efficiency in absorbing a given heat load. The effects of the thermal resistance of heat exchangers on the performance of the TEC system and the design parameters of that system are also examined.

A study was conducted to investigate the heat exchange process between the working helium gas and the regenerator materials in a Gifford-McMahon refrigerator. The result reveals that the optimum phase angle maximizing the cooling power dramatically increases when the operating temperature decreases below 20 K.

A response to the comment on a fallacious argument in the finite time thermodynamics concept of endoreversibility is presented. The argument restates that logical inconsistency in introducing the concept of endoreversibility into a finite-time thermodynamics model of power plants characterized with a presence of heat exchanger thermal couplings is valid.