Definition of heat engine Heat engine
heat en•gine
We found 3 definitions of heat engine from 3 different sources.
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What does heat engine mean?
WordNet
Noun |
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| heat engine - any engine that makes use of heat to do work | ||
| engine motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work | ||
| external-combustion engine a heat engine in which ignition occurs outside the chamber (cylinder or turbine) in which heat is converted to mechanical energy | ||
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Wiktionary 
- heat engine (Noun)
Any device which converts heat energy into mechanical work.
Wikipedia 
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A heat engine is a physical or theoretical device that converts thermal energy to mechanical output. The mechanical output is called work, and the thermal energy input is called heat.
Heat engines typically run on a specific thermodynamic cycle. Heat engines are often named after the thermodynamic cycle they are modeled by. They often pick up alternate names, such as gasoline/petrol, turbine, or steam engines. Heat engines can generate heat inside the engine itself or it can absorb heat from an external source. Heat engines can be open to the atmospheric air or sealed and closed off to the outside (Open or closed cycle).
In engineering and thermodynamics, a heat engine performs the conversion of heat energy to mechanical work by exploiting the temperature gradient between a hot "source" and a cold "sink". Heat is transferred from the source, through the "working body" of the engine, to the sink, and in this process some of the heat is converted into work by exploiting the properties of a working substance (usually a gas or liquid).
Overview.
Heat engines are often confused with the cycles they attempt to mimic. Typically when describing the physical device the term 'engine' is used. When describing the model the term 'cycle' is used.
One could say that the thermodynamic cycle is an ideal case of the mechanical engine. One could equally say that the model does not quite perfectly match the mechanical engine. However, much benefit is gained from the simplified models, and ideal
