Concept of cycle efficiency

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Diagrams of thermal machines
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The concept of effectiveness, or efficiency , is used to characterize the overall performance of a cycle, when establishing its energy balance. For a thermal machine intended to transform , this is the ratio between the power produced and the heat supplied to the machine: η = τ/Q.

In general, when we are dealing with relatively complex cycles, we are led to adopt a broader definition of effectiveness or efficiency: it is the ratio of to .

η = (useful energy) / (purchased energy)

- generally represents the sum of all the energies that we had to provide to the cycle from outside;
- represents the net balance of useful energies of the cycle, that is to say the algebraic sum of energies participating in the useful energy effect;

This approach has the advantage of remaining valid in all cases, both for power cycles and for cycles working in reverse. In the latter case, we no longer speak of efficiency because its value generally becomes greater than 1, but rather of .