Constructal law & thermoeconomics

In spite of evident differences, Constructal Theory and Thermoeconomics (in particular thermoeconomic optimization) have also some similarities. For instance, they both suggest the optimal allocation of two different types of losses: high permeability vs. low permeability flow losses in the Constructal Theory, while local losses inside the process vs. external losses for making available all resources actually consumed, at local level, by a component or a process in the thermoeconomic optimization. The paper discusses this one and related aspects, highlighting how the optimal criterion of minimum energy cost of the product can be derived from the Constructal Law, when the flow of useful product through the productive structure is considered as the characteristic flow of the system. In this context, the evolution of energy systems toward highly interrelated productive structures, with recycling flows, can be regarded as a consequence of the Constructal Law.