Boiler thermal efficiency testing requires not only thermal efficiency results,but also quality evaluation of measurement results to meet target requirements.However,uncertainty assessment involves a large number of mathematical concepts,and only the assessment procedure and basic formula are given in the standard,and the source of the formula is not explained,resulting in errors in uncertainty assessment.Based on the core formula boiler thermal efficiency uncertainty propagation formula in ASME PTC4-2013,a strict proof process of uncertainty propagation formula based on the Taylor series method and Gaussian distribution method is given,derives the uncertainty orthogonal addition calculation formula,analyzes the difference between general addition and orthogonal addition of uncertainty,proposes an orthogonal synthesis method of random uncertainty of each parameter,and obtains the basic conditions for the synthesis of random uncertainty and system uncertainty into standard uncertainty.