the ratio of the work output of a heat engine to the heat input expressed in the same units of energy.
Origin
1905-10
Examples from the web for thermal efficiency
Higher thermal efficiency due to cold air will offset cost of air cooling.
Due to the higher operating temperature it had a higher thermal efficiency.
The obvious one is the improvements in the actual thermal efficiency of engines and manufacturing processes.
Engineers focused on increasing thermal efficiency and reducing friction, especially when the engine is warming up.
The weakness of internal combustion is low thermal efficiency.
Brake thermal efficiency map of the hydrogen direct injection engine.
British Dictionary definitions for thermal efficiency
thermal efficiency
noun
1.
the ratio of the work done by a heat engine to the energy supplied to it Compare efficiency
Contemporary definitions for thermal efficiency
noun
in thermodynamics, the amount of work done by a heat engine divided by the thermal energy required to drive it; also, the ratio of the work done an engine to the work due to the heat supplied to it