  Enantiomers are chiral molecules that exist in right-handed and left-handed
conformations. Optical techniques of enantiomers detection are widely employed
to discriminate between left- and right-handed molecules. However, identical
spectra of enantiomers make enantiomer detection a very challenging task. Here,
we investigate the possibility of exploiting thermodynamic processes for
enantiomer detection. In particular, we employ a quantum Otto cycle, in which a
chiral molecule described by a three-level system with cyclic optical
transitions is considered a working medium. Each energy transition of the
three-level system is coupled with an external laser drive. We find that the
left-handed molecule works as a heat engine, while the right-handed molecule
works as a thermal accelerator where the overall phase of the drives is
considered as the cycle's control parameter. In addition, both left- and
right-handed molecules work as heat engines by considering laser drives'
detuning as the control parameter. However, the molecules can still be
distinguished because both cases' extracted work and efficiency are
quantitatively very different. Accordingly, left and right-handed molecules can
be distinguished by evaluating the work distribution in the Otto cycle.
