What Conditions Make Minimum Entropy Production Equivalent to Maximum Power Production?

Optimization of processes can yield a variety of answers, depending not only on the objective of the optimization but also on the constraints that define the problem. Within the context of thermodynamic optimization, the role of the constraints is particularly important because, among other things, their choice can make some objectives either equivalent or inequivalent, and can limit or broaden the possible kinds of processes one might choose. After a general discussion of the principles, a specific example of a model power plant is analyzed to see how the constraints govern the possible solutions.