Second Law Efficiency (Exergy Efficiency or Rational Efficiency) is the ratio of the minimum amount of work or energy required to perform a task to the amount actually used. Second Law Efficiencies measure how successfully entropy generation has been minimised in a device by comparing real processes to an equivalent idealised isentropic process via their thermal efficiencies.
Reference Definition by Wikipedia: Exergy efficiency (also known as the second-law efficiency or rational efficiency) computes the effectiveness of a system relative to its performance in reversible conditions. It is defined as the ratio of the thermal efficiency of an actual system compared to an idealized or reversible version of the system for heat engines. It can also be described as the ratio of the useful work output of the system to the reversible work output for work-consuming systems.
Related Definitions in the Project: The Science Definitions
