Who invented steam engine ? How it is invented?
Answers
Explanation:
In a world propelled by combustion engines, gas turbines and nuclear reactors, the steam engine may seem like a relic of the past. But without this game-changing invention, the modern world would be a much different place.
Arguably the most important development of the Industrial Revolution, the steam engine facilitated major advancements in the fields of mining, manufacturing, agriculture and transportation. And while several prominent figures of the 18th and 19th centuries are credited with developing and improving the steam engine, the history of steam-powered machines actually goes back nearly 2,000 years before the Industrial Revolution.
Ancient steam turbines..
Early in the first century A.D., a Greek inventor named Hero of Alexandria designed the world's first aeolipile, or primitive steam turbine. Heron's aeolipile consisted of a hollow sphere, mounted on a pair of tubes. Heated from below by fire, the tubes transported steam to the sphere, where it was released through another series of tubes projecting from the sphere's equator. This movement of steam through the device caused the sphere to revolve, demonstrating the potential for using steam as a means of propulsion.
While Hero's aeolipile was created as a novelty, not a means of speeding up production, it is nevertheless the first known device to transform steam into rotary motion. But it wasn't until the 17th century that attempts were made to harness the power exhibited by Heron's aeolipile for practical purposes.
In the first century A.D., Hero of Alexandria invented the aeolipile, or primitive steam turbine. (Image credit: Public domain.)
Steam: A perfect solution
The first practical steam engines were developed to solve a very specific problem: how to remove water from flooded mines. As Europeans of the 17th century switched from wood to coal as their main source of fuel, mines were deepened and, as a result, often became flooded after penetrating underground water sources.
A Spanish mining administrator named Jerónimo de Ayanz is thought to have been the first person to solve the problem of flooded mines. In 1606, de Ayanz registered the first patent for a machine that used steam power to propel water from mines. The Spanish inventor — who is also credited with inventing one of the world's first air conditioning systems — used his steam engine to remove water from silver mines in Guadalcanal, Seville.
While the Spaniard first patented a steam-operated machine for use in mining, an Englishman is usually credited with inventing the first steam engine. In 1698, Thomas Savery, an engineer and inventor, patented a machine that could effectively draw water from flooded mines using steam pressure. Savery used principles set forth by Denis Papin, a French-born British physicist who invented the pressure cooker. Papin's ideas surrounding a cylinder and piston steam engine had not previously been used to build a working engine, but by 1705, Savery had turned Papin's ideas into a useful invention.
Using two steam boilers, Savery devised a nearly continuous system for pumping water from mines. But despite the early success of Savery's system, it was soon discovered that his engine was only capable of drawing water from shallow depths, a problem that needed to be overcome if steam engines were to function in deep mines.
Luckily for European mine owners, in 1711 another Englishman, Thomas Newcomen, developed a better way to pump water from mines. His system used a redesigned steam engine that eliminated the need for accumulated steam pressure — a flaw in Savery's system that led to many an unfortunate explosion. Newcomen's "atmospheric" engine — so named because the level of steam pressure it used neared atmospheric pressure — was the first commercially successful machine that used steam to operate a water pump.
Despite it's being an improvement on Savery's initial rendering of the steam engine, Newcomen's atmospheric engine also had its flaws. The machine was highly inefficient, requiring a constant flow of cold water to cool the all-important steam cylinder (the part of the engine where steam pressure is converted into motion), as well as a constant energy source to reheat the cylinder.
Regardless of this major drawback, Newcomen's engine design went unchallenged for the next 50-or-so years and, aside from pumping out mines, was also used to drain wetlands, supply water to towns and even power factories and mills by pumping water from below a water wheel to above it for re-use.
In 1698, Thomas Savery patented a machine that could effectively draw water from flooded mines using steam pressure. (Image credit: Public domain.)
Powering the Industrial Revolution
Thomas Savery
Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester
Edward Huber