Evolution of the Steam Engine History
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ScribdTranslationsEvolution of the Steam Engine History
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ScribdTranslationsHistory of the steam engine, inventor and evolution
History of the steam engine, inventor and evolution
The first reference to the steam engine can be found in the period
Hellenistic with the works of Hero of Alexandria. Then we talk about
experiments to take advantage of steam expansion.
It was a hollow metal sphere filled with water, with arms
tangential with the outlet hole: when the water heats up, this
vaporizes and the water vapor that comes out of the openings, through the rotation of the
own ball.
Who invented the steam engine?
It is not possible to determine a single inventor of the steam engine nor an exact date.
for the creation of the steam engine. This is due to the historical evolution of
the steam engine is very long, and a prototype has not been created all at once.
The steam engine has been slowly created and its creation has passed through hands.
by many inventors, who have gradually improved it and adapted it
to the social, economic, and political circumstances of each historical period.
First experiments of the steam engine
In the early 17th century, the experiments of Giovanni Battista della Porta
they were able to use the power of steam as a driving force.
The engineer Salomon de Caus also conducted experiments with steam engines.
similar to those of Della Porta. In 1615 Alomon Caus published a treatise in his
system that contains a steam pump.
In more recent times, the first applications of steam can be traced back to
new to the experiments of Denis Papin and his pressure cooker of 1679. In this
the experiment went to conceive ideas on how to develop the use of steam.
Origin of the first steam engine
The later experiments to use steam took place at the beginning of the
18th century, especially for pumping water from the mines.
The pumping of water was carried out using the system devised in 1698 by Thomas Savery.
using the vacuum created by the condensation of the introduced vapor in a
container.
This experiment managed to raise the water up to approximately 10 m.
height. Moreover, thanks to the invention of the cylinder-piston system, it was possible
convert steam energy into mechanical motion.
The Newcomen steam engine
History of the steam engine, inventor and evolution The first example of
the industrial application of this concept is the steam engine of Thomas Newcomen,
from 1705. The Newcomen machine was large but not too powerful and expensive. Only
it could make a swinging movement. For this reason, it is used for
extract water from the mines.
At first, the steam engine operated at atmospheric pressure, so
it provided very low power and the engines had to be huge. For their
installation in self-propelled vehicles was required, therefore, a design of
smaller and lighter steam engine for the same power.
Appearance of high-pressure steam engines
This problem led to the creation of high-pressure steam engines.
In high-pressure steam engines, pressure builds up inside the
caldera.
This objective was later achieved with the invention of the external capacitor.
the external condenser, the distribution of the boxes, and the crank mechanism
The crank allowed converting linear motion into rotational motion.
This feature led to widespread use in transportation and in industry.
The merits of such an event are attributed to the Scottish engineer James Watt in
1765.
Watt's invention involved several advantages:
Lower cost
Smaller dimensions
Less energy consumption
Higher power.
The steam engine in the industry
The steam engine allowed for greater power than what could be obtained.
with the resources available up to then. This evolution played a key role in
the industrial revolution.
The development of the steam engine has facilitated the extraction and transport of
coal. The decrease in the costs of coal exploitation contributes to
lower the costs of using the steam engine. The second application of
the steam engine was moving the bellows in the foundries in 1776, while
In 1787 it was also used to spin cotton garments.