Discussion on the extensions of the entransy theory

In this paper, the preconditions for the extensions of the entransy theory are summarized and discussed. As the physical meaning of entransy is the “potential energy” of thermal energy, the concepts and analyses method of the entransy theory can be extended based on the viewpoint of potential energy. The extension to microeconomics is taken as an example to show how the entransy theory is extended. The concept of economic entransy is defined based on the analogy analysis between heat transfer and microeconomics, and the indirect tax is found to be the “potential energy” of goods or services that the government takes from the market. With the extension, a new viewpoint is introduced to understand and analyze the microeconomic system. If the irreversibility in nature makes the potential energy in one system can never increase automatically, the entransy decrease principle and the corresponding equilibrium criteria can further be extended. Furthermore, if the mathematical expressions of the governing equations of the analyzed physical or social phenomena in the system are the same as those in heat transfer, the principle of least action and the optimization principles in the entransy theory can be extended. More similarities between heat transfer and the other phenomena result in more extensions of the entransy theory.