Steam Engine free essay sample

The Steam Engine The wonderful progress of the present century is, in a very great degree, due to the invention and improvement of the steam engine, and to the ingenious application of its power to kinds of work that formerly taxed the physical energies of the human race. ~Robert H. Thurston The steam engine can easily be considered the single most important invention of the entire industrial revolution. There is not one part of industry present in todays society that can be examined without coming across some type of reference or dependence upon the steam engine. But, who deserves the credit for this great invention? Some give the credit to James Watt while others claim that Thomas Newcomen was the original inventor. However, the idea of the using the power of steam to the advantage of human beings has been around practically since the beginning of time. But, no practical uses for steam emerged until the 17th century. The majority of people will tell you that the steam engine was invented by James Watt. But, this is far from the truth. Like all other great inventions and great discoveries, the steam engine came about after centuries of work by numerous scientists, engineers and even writers. It came from a compilation of work and theories that took centuries to complete. If James Watt was not the first to create the steam engine, who was? How did James Watt end up with all of the credit for the invention? Was he just the one that was there at the right time and in the right place? Is it true that James Watt discovered the steam engine when he observed the lid of a kettle lifting as water boiled within? Those are the questions that we are out to answer. But, keep in mind that nventions 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~Robert H. Thurston. The idea using the power of steam to our advantage goes back nearly twenty-one centuries. A learned writer in ancient Alexandria, named Hero, wrote a manuscript describing various devices and ideas of the time. Although it is not proven that Hero was the inventor of any of these devices, he is given credit for the earliest mention of steam power. Hero describes a method to open the doors of a temple with the action of a fire on the alter at the front of the temple. The picture below on the left shows Heros plan. A series of pipes runs between the alter and the temple doors. The force of the steam created by the fire on the alter is strong enough to open the temple doors. The essential principle that Hero used was to change heat energy into mechanical energy or work. Supposedly, Hero continued his work and ended up creating what is often called the First Steam Engine.    Heros engine is featured on below on the right. The cauldron or bowl like portion AB holds water. There is a steam tight cover place over top of the cauldron. Two pipes extend from the lid and suspend a globe directly above the cauldron. The water is heated, causing steam to be created and forced through the pipes. The globe then fills with steam. Pipes K and H are located on opposite sides of the globe and allow the steam to escape when the pressure becomes uneven. The escaping steam then causes the globe to spin on its axis. The power of steam has always existed in our environment. It has been shown constantly through natural occurrences all around us. But, man did not make the power of steam useful until the beginning of the Christian era. Even after the development of Heros engine, it took hundreds of years until any single person found a practical use for this awesome power. Humans never saw a need to harness the power of steam because the labor and toil of slaves and animals was sufficient for everything that needed to be done. Experiments with steam began to resurface again near the end of the sixteenth century. A man named Matthesius preached about what was believed to be a steam engine and its remendous results which may follow the volcanic action of a small quantity of confined vapor(Thurston, 10). It is believed that the first attempt to actually make steam use practical occurred in 1543 upon a naval ship. Blasco de Garay, a Spanish naval officer, attempted to move the paddle wheels of the ship with what could possibly be considered a steam engine. This account however is not well credited because nothing is really known about the make-up of the so called steam engine except that it contained a vessel of boiling water.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1601, Giovanni Battista della Porta described a machine that could be used to raise a column of water with the use of steam. He described this machine in a work entitled Spiritali.    Portas work included a vacuum created by the condensation of steam into which water would flow. Portas apparatus, was called the Pneumatica.    Portas machine was described as being able to raise water with steam pressure. Although Portas machine was never applied to any practical uses, he accurately described the necessary presence of a vacuum created by steam to raise the water. Another man that is mistakenly given a lot of credit for the invention of the steam engine is Edward Somerset, Marquis of Worcester. The Marquis has been hailed as the originator of the machine that was used to raise water by the force of fire. However, the Marquis never actually built such a machine. The only machine that he ever constructed was capable of raising water to a height of forty feet, but this was done by a manual pump in 1663. The Marquis was all talk and no action. He tried to convince everyone around him through his writing that he was capable of raising water with fire. But, nobody ever saw him actually achieve his claim. He may have had some pretty convincing plans about a way to make his claim work, but the Marquis failed every time. Other people that can be credited with work on the steam engine are Jacob Besson a professor of Mathematics anc Natural Philosophy at Orleans, Agostino Ramelli an Italian writer, Leonardo da Vinci a mathematician, engineer, poet and painter, Florence Rivault, Salomon de Caus,   Giovanni Branca, David Raseye, Thomas Grant, and Edward Ford. All of these men made contributions to the idea of the steam engine before Newcomen and Watt were ever even born. Thomas Savery   became the first man to produce a workable apparatus for raising water. Saverys 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 reach 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. Savery became the first to put the method of raising water by fire to use for draining mines. In 1698, Savery patented his design. It is believed that Thomas Newcomen simultaneously came up with the idea of the fire engine. Newcomen was born to a good family but received very little schooling. Newcomen was the first man to work on the steam engine who was a practical tradesman. He did not waste his time with philosophers or royal proteges. Newcomen was an iron monger in Dartmouth. Because of his lower class standing, Newcomen was not quickly accepted or recognized for his achievements or contributions to the steam engine. It is believed that Newcomen had no prior knowledge of the work of his predecessors in the area of the steam engine. His engine was introduced in 1712 and was basically a combination of the boiler used in Saverys 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. Newcomens engine was so successful that   it was still being used in the twentieth century. Modern day steam engines can easily be traced back to Newcomens design. The driving force behind Newcomens 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. It resides at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. However, Newcomen is unfortunately overshadowed by the well known James Watt. Beginning in 1765, Watt was incorrectly labeled the inventor of the steam engine. James Watt was born in Greenock, Scotland. 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 Newcomens 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. Watts addition saved almost %75 of the fuel that had previously been used by the engine. Because of this improvement, a new era of steam engines arose. 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. Watts addition ended up being the single greatest improvement ever made to the engine. A New England writer was quoted in an article as stating, s 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 Watts 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. Watts addition to the steam engine caused its production and overall usefulness to skyrocket in the 1800s.