Invention of the Steam Engine Essay Example

hundred years by three British inventors.

The first crude steam powered machine was built by Thomas Savery, of England, in 1698. Savery built his machine to help pump water out of coal mines. This machine was so simple that it had no moving parts. It also used up lots and lots of coal just to pump a small quantity of water.

” (Phil Shapiro) Nevertheless, Thomas Savery became the first man to produce a workable apparatus for raising water. In detail, “Savery's apparatus was able to draw water up by suction to a height of approximately twenty-six to twenty-eight feet. The water was able to each this height due to atmospheric pressure and the condensation of steam within the closed vessel. Savery was the first to make the necessary connection between steam power and atmospheric pressure. Without adding in atmospheric pressure, steam power may have never been harnessed. ” (Robert H.

Thurston) Savery became the first to put the method of raising water by fire to use for draining mines. To say it was a steam engine that would be to stretch the world "engine" far beyond its current meaning. However, it would be fair to say that Savery was the first person to find a practical way of using steam to perform useful work.The next milestone in the history of the steam engine was a result of the work of Thomas Newcomen, who was not quickly recognized for his achievements or contributions to the steam engine. His engine was introduced in 1712 and was basically a combination of the boiler used in Savery's engine with a cylinder and pump. The Newcomen model was unlike

other engines up to this time.

It was the first engine that was actually self acting. “The make up of the engine went a little something like this. The cylinder housed a piston that was forced to move up and down due to atmospheric pressure and steam pressure.There was a boiler that produced the steam and a cock that allowed a jet of cold water to condense the steam and vary the pressure within the engine. As the piston was forced up and down the handle of an attached lever was forced to move as well. This apparatus was used to successfully raise water from mines.

”(i) Newcomen's engine was so successful that it was still being used in the twentieth century. Modern day steam engines can easily be traced back to Newcomen's design. “The driving force behind Newcomen's engine was a vacuum that was created by the condensation of steam back into water.He was definitely the first to make a huge advance in the development of the steam engine. There is actually a Newcomen Engine still around today.

”(Robert H. Thurston) It resides at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The engine was originally used to pump water from a mine with an over all power of about fifteen horsepower in 1760. However, neither Savery nor Newcomen had any grander purpose in mind for their machines. This all changed in 1763, when James Watt, a Scottish engineer, set out to improve upon Newcomen's design.

The Newcomen design was unfortunately overshadowed by the well known James Watt. Beginning in 1765, Watt was labeled the "inventor" of the steam engine. James Watt was born on January

19, 1736, in Greenock, Scotland. He worked as a mathematical-instrument maker from the age of 19 and soon became interested in improving the steam engines. Around 1769, he was assigned the task of repairing a Newcomen engine that was deemed inefficient. The Newcomen engine however was the best engine available at the time.

“Watt eventually added a separate condenser to Newcomen's engine.This caused the steam to condense in a separate vessel instead of within the cylinder itself. This conserved heat energy that had been lost due to alternately heating and cooling the cylinder. Watt's addition saved almost %75 of the fuel that had previously been used by the engine. ” (Robert H. Thurston) Because of this improvement, a new era of steam engines has arisen.

It was almost a rebirth for the entire industry. Although Watt did not initially invent the steam engine, he was given a lot of credit for it at this point. Watt's addition ended up being the single greatest improvement ever made to the engine.A New England writer was quoted in an article as stating, ".

.. as Minerva sprang, mature in mind, in full stature of body and completely armed, from the head of Jupiter, so the steam engine came forth, perfect at its birth, from the brain of James Watt"(Thurston, 3). It is statements like these that take the credit away from the people that deserve it and give it to the one person who just happened to be in the right place at the right time: James Watt.

His addition to the steam engine most likely would have been overlooked had it been added years before.He just lucked out

and happened to make the addition when the people were ready to accept it. As Thurston says, "Inventions only become successful when they are not only needed, but when mankind is so far advanced in intelligence as to appreciate and to express the necessity for them, and to at once make use of them"(Thurston, 3). Watt ended up with the majority of the credit for the steam engine because all of the men before them were basically ahead of their time. The people were not technologically advanced enough or mentally ready to accept and appreciate their work.The steam engine became the most important aspect of the industrial revolution at that time.

Later on, from 1799 the Cornish engineer, Richard Trevithick began to construct higher pressure non-condensing steam engines, exhausting against atmospheric pressure. “This gave a much higher power/weight ratio allowing an engine and boiler to be combined into a single unit compact enough to be used on mobile road and rail locomotives and steam boats. In the early 19th century after the expiration of Watt's patent, the steam engine underwent many improvements by a host of inventors and engineers. ” (ii)Having stated the evolution of the steam engine, from the first crude steam machine built by Thomas Savery to the advanced steam engine which is used not only to move goods from place to place but also to move people, we shall move on the regions that the advanced steam engines are used and later on its impact on the modern manufacturing practices. Rapidly growing usage of the steam engines led up to the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century. Steam locomotives and steam paddle

boats began to pop up everywhere.

“In 1807, Robert Fulton introduced the first steamship to provide regular passenger service to the people of America.He named it the "Clermont. " The "Clermont" made a 150 mile trip from New York City to Albany in 32 hours at an average speed of 5 miles per hour. ” (i) By 1825, steam locomotives were no longer used just for moving goods.

Passenger locomotives were rapidly growing due to the increase in commuter traffic in large cities. By the early 1900's, express locomotives were beginning to appear. Locomotives started getting bigger and faster. 1960 brought about the end of the locomotive era however. The impact of the steam engines on the modern manufacturing practices approximately began with the raise of the Industrial Revolution.

During the Industrial Revolution, steam power replaced water power and muscle power (which often came from horses) as the primary source of power in use in industry. Its first use was to pump water from mines. The early engines were not very efficient, but a modified version created by James Watt gave engines the power to become a driving force behind the Industrial Revolution. Steam power was not only used in engines but also in furnaces and other factory appliances that were difficult to implement prior to the invention of steam power.