heat engine

noun

Definition of heat engine

: a mechanism (such as an internal combustion engine) for converting heat energy into mechanical or electrical energy

Examples of heat engine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Hurricanes are enormous heat engines that deliver energy on a staggering scale. — Christina Nunez, National Geographic, "Hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons, explained," 12 June 2019 The thermionic diode heat engine invented by Nottingham and Hatsopoulos in the 1950s finally went all the way and produced power with no moving parts. — Charles A. Berg, The New York Review of Books, "Watt Nonsense," 6 June 2019 Then, when electricity is needed again, the system reunites the molten salt with the cold fluid, using a heat engine to reconvert the thermal energy to electricity, which can be sent back to the grid. — Megan Geuss, Ars Technica, "Using molten salt to store electricity isn’t just for solar thermal plants," 24 Dec. 2018 The reciprocating Carnot These results, however, are for a heat engine that operates continuously. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Pulsed engines provide high efficiency, output power, low fluctuations," 25 Sep. 2018 The source of the problem lies in how all heat engines work. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Pulsed engines provide high efficiency, output power, low fluctuations," 25 Sep. 2018 Required by the second law of thermodynamics, that unavoidable waste of energy severely limits the efficiency of a heat engine to below a level set by the temperatures of the baths. — Adrian Cho, Science | AAAS, "Quantum measurements could power a tiny, hyper-efficient engine," 10 July 2018 The site broke a decades-old record Sunday by surpassing a cumulative 12.5 years of operation of a heat engine. — Grant Segall, cleveland.com, "NASA Glenn shares successful demonstration of nuclear power for space (photos)," 2 May 2018 At its core, the drinking bird is a heat engine, not that unlike a steam turbine or diesel engine. — Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, "An Absurdly Detailed Explanation of the Drinking Bird Toy," 30 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'heat engine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.