105-469: The Smethwick Engine is a Watt steam engine made by Boulton and Watt , which was installed near Birmingham , England, and was brought into service in May 1779. Now at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum , it is the oldest working steam engine and the oldest working engine in the world. Originally, it was one of two steam engines used to pump water back up to the 491-foot (149.7 m) summit level of
210-483: A circular arc . This was patented in 1784. A throttle valve to control the power of the engine, and a centrifugal governor , patented in 1788, to keep it from "running away" were very important. These improvements taken together produced an engine which was up to five times as fuel efficient as the Newcomen engine. Because of the danger of exploding boilers, which were in a very primitive stage of development, and
315-479: A deist . Watt's grandfather, Thomas Watt (1642–1734), was a teacher of mathematics, surveying and navigation and baillie to the Baron of Cartsburn . Initially, Watt was educated at home by his mother, later going on to attend Greenock Grammar School. There he exhibited an aptitude for mathematics , while Latin and Greek failed to interest him. Watt is said to have suffered prolonged bouts of ill-health as
420-479: A surveyor , then as a civil engineer —for 8 years. Roebuck went bankrupt , and Matthew Boulton , who owned the Soho Manufactory works near Birmingham , acquired his patent rights. An extension of the patent to 1800 was successfully obtained in 1775. Through Boulton, Watt finally had access to some of the best iron workers in the world. The difficulty of the manufacture of a large cylinder with
525-471: A Glasgow dye -maker, with whom he had 2 children: Gregory (1777–1804), who became a geologist and mineralogist, and Janet (1779–1794). Ann died in 1832. Between 1777 and 1790 he lived in Regent Place, Birmingham . There is a popular story that Watt was inspired to invent the steam engine by seeing a kettle boiling, the steam forcing the lid to rise and thus showing Watt the power of steam. This story
630-402: A chain, which meant that power could only be applied in one direction, by pulling. This was effective in engines that were used for pumping water, but the double action of the piston meant that it could push as well as pull. This was not possible as long as the beam and the rod were connected by a chain. Furthermore, it was not possible to connect the piston rod of the sealed cylinder directly to
735-520: A child and from frequent headaches all his life. After leaving school, Watt worked in the workshops of his father's businesses, demonstrating considerable dexterity and skill in creating engineering models. After his father suffered unsuccessful business ventures, Watt left Greenock to seek employment in Glasgow as a mathematical instrument maker . When he was 18, Watt's mother died and his father's health began to fail. Watt travelled to London and
840-515: A commercially viable process. He discovered that a mixture of salt, manganese dioxide and sulphuric acid could produce chlorine, which Watt believed might be a cheaper method. He passed the chlorine into a weak solution of alkali , and obtained a turbid solution that appeared to have good bleaching properties. He soon communicated these results to James McGrigor, his father-in-law, who was a bleacher in Glasgow. Otherwise, he tried to keep his method
945-426: A complex machine with sufficient precision ' ". In 1774, John Wilkinson invented a boring machine in which the shaft that held the cutting tool was supported on both ends and extended through the cylinder, unlike the cantilevered borers then in use. Boulton wrote in 1776 that "Mr. Wilkinson has bored us several cylinders almost without error; that of 50 inches diameter, which we have put up at Tipton, does not err on
1050-403: A constant power and smoothed the action of the alternating strokes. To its rotating central shaft, belts and gears could be attached to drive a great variety of machinery. Because factory machinery needed to operate at a constant speed, Watt linked a steam regulator valve to a centrifugal governor which he adapted from those used to automatically control the speed of windmills. The centrifugal
1155-406: A cylinder with a diameter of 50 inches and an overall height of about 24 feet, and required the construction of a dedicated building to house it. Boulton and Watt charged an annual payment, equal to one-third of the value of the coal saved in comparison to a Newcomen engine performing the same work. The field of application for the invention was greatly widened when Boulton urged Watt to convert
SECTION 10
#17327729212271260-900: A firm called James Watt and Co. The perfection of the invention required much more development work before it could be routinely used by others, but this was carried out over the next few years. Boulton and Watt gave up their shares to their sons in 1794. It became a commercial success and was widely used in offices even into the 20th century. From an early age, Watt was very interested in chemistry. In late 1786, while in Paris, he witnessed an experiment by Claude Louis Berthollet in which he reacted hydrochloric acid with manganese dioxide to produce chlorine . He had already found that an aqueous solution of chlorine could bleach textiles, and had published his findings, which aroused great interest among many potential rivals. When Watt returned to Britain, he began experiments along these lines with hopes of finding
1365-409: A fluid (a refrigerant) which evaporates at temperatures below 100 °C. Such systems are however fairly complex. They work with pressures of 6 to 20 bars, so that the whole system has to be completely sealed. The Expansion Engine can offer significant advantages here, in particular for lower power ratings of 2 to 100 kW: with expansion ratios of 1:5, the theoretical efficiency reaches 15%, which
1470-459: A full-scale engine. This required more capital , some of which came from Black. More substantial backing came from John Roebuck , the founder of the celebrated Carron Iron Works near Falkirk , with whom he now formed a partnership. Roebuck lived at Kinneil House in Bo'ness , during which time Watt worked at perfecting his steam engine in a cottage adjacent to the house. The shell of the cottage, and
1575-482: A great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and reheating the cylinder . Watt introduced a design enhancement, the separate condenser , which avoided this waste of energy and radically improved the power, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of steam engines. Eventually, he adapted his engine to produce rotary motion, greatly broadening its use beyond pumping water. Watt attempted to commercialise his invention, but experienced great financial difficulties until he entered
1680-410: A kettle as a boiler to generate steam. In 1759, Watt's friend, John Robison , called his attention to the use of steam as a source of motive power . The design of the Newcomen engine, in use for almost 50 years for pumping water from mines, had hardly changed from its first implementation. Watt began to experiment with steam, though he had never seen an operating steam engine. He tried constructing
1785-411: A loaded cannon than settle an account or make a bargain." Until he retired, he was always very concerned about his financial affairs, and was something of a worrier. His health was often poor and he suffered frequent nervous headaches and depression. When he retired in 1800, he became a rich enough man to pass the business on to his sons. At first, the partnership made the drawings and specifications for
1890-399: A model; it failed to work satisfactorily, but he continued his experiments and began to read everything he could about the subject. He came to realise the importance of latent heat —the thermal energy released or absorbed during a constant-temperature process—in understanding the engine, which, unknown to Watt, his friend Joseph Black had previously discovered years before. Understanding of
1995-680: A new canal parallel to the old in a deeper cutting, at the 453 ft (138.1 m) Birmingham Level , creating the largest man-made earthworks in the world at the time. It was spanned by the Galton Bridge . The engine was still needed, despite both these developments, and Thomas Telford constructed the Engine Arm Aqueduct carrying the Engine Arm branch canal over his New Main Line so that coal could still be transported along
2100-542: A partnership with Matthew Boulton in 1775. The new firm of Boulton and Watt was eventually highly successful and Watt became a wealthy man. In his retirement, Watt continued to develop new inventions though none was as significant as his steam engine work. As Watt developed the concept of horsepower , the SI unit of power, the watt , was named after him. James Watt was born on 19 January 1736 in Greenock , Renfrewshire ,
2205-661: A partnership with John Craig, an architect and businessman, to manufacture and sell a line of products including musical instruments and toys. This partnership lasted for the next six years, and employed up to 16 workers. Craig died in 1765. One employee, Alex Gardner, eventually took over the business, which lasted into the 20th century. In 1764, Watt married his cousin Margaret (Peggy) Miller, with whom he had 5 children, 2 of whom lived to adulthood: James Jr. (1769–1848) and Margaret (1767–1796). His wife died in childbirth in 1773. In 1777, he married again, to Ann MacGregor, daughter of
SECTION 20
#17327729212272310-521: A renaissance of the technology. Today, there is an enormous amount of waste steam and waste heat with temperatures between 100 and 150 °C generated by industry. In addition, solarthermal collectors, geothermal energy sources and biomass reactors produce heat in this temperature range. There are technologies to utilise this energy, in particular the Organic Rankine Cycle . In principle, these are steam turbines which do not use water but
2415-410: A scaled-up 2 kW engine is under preparation. James Watt James Watt FRS , FRSE ( / w ɒ t / ; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS ) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor , mechanical engineer , and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen 's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fundamental to the changes brought by
2520-460: A secret. With McGrigor and his wife Annie, he started to scale up the process, and in March 1788, McGrigor was able to bleach 1,500 yards (4,500 feet) of cloth to his satisfaction. About this time, Berthollet discovered the salt and sulphuric acid process, and published it, so it became public knowledge. Many others began to experiment with improving the process, which still had many shortcomings, not
2625-639: A small workshop within the university. It was initiated in 1757 and two of the professors, the physicist and chemist Joseph Black as well as the famed economist Adam Smith , became Watt's friends. At first, he worked on maintaining and repairing scientific instruments used in the university, helping with demonstrations, and expanding the production of quadrants . He made and repaired brass reflecting quadrants , parallel rulers , scales , parts for telescopes , and barometers , among other things. Biographers such as Samuel Smiles assert that Watt struggled to establish himself in Glasgow due to opposition from
2730-499: A suitable water source and topography . Watt's partner Matthew Boulton began developing a multitude of machines that made use of this rotary power, developing the first modern industrialized factory, the Soho Foundry , which in turn produced new steam engine designs. Watt's early engines were like the original Newcomen designs in that they used low-pressure steam, and all of the power was produced by atmospheric pressure. When, in
2835-457: A tightly fitting piston was solved by John Wilkinson , who had developed precision boring techniques for cannon making at Bersham , near Wrexham , North Wales . Watt and Boulton formed a hugely successful partnership, Boulton and Watt , which lasted for the next 25 years. In 1776, the first engines were installed and working in commercial enterprises. These first engines were used to power pumps and produced only reciprocating motion to move
2940-746: A trip on the paddle-steamer Comet , a product of his inventions, to revisit his home town of Greenock. He died on 25 August 1819 at his home " Heathfield Hall " near Handsworth in Staffordshire (now part of Birmingham) at the age of 83. He was buried on 2 September in the graveyard of St Mary's Church, Handsworth . The church has since been extended and his grave is now inside the church. On 14 July 1764, Watt married his cousin Margaret Miller (d. 1773). They had two children, Margaret (1767–1796) and James (1769–1848). In 1791, their daughter married James Miller. In September 1773, while Watt
3045-480: A vacuum created by condensing steam. The appliance was also proposed for draining mines , but it could only draw fluid up approximately 25 feet, meaning it had to be located within this distance of the mine floor being drained. As mines became deeper, this was often impractical. It also consumed a large amount of fuel compared with later engines. The solution to draining deep mines was found by Thomas Newcomen who developed an "atmospheric" engine that also worked on
3150-560: A very erroneous idea of his character; he was equally distinguished as a natural philosopher and a chemist, and his inventions demonstrate his profound knowledge of those sciences, and that peculiar characteristic of genius, the union of them for practical application". He was greatly respected by other prominent men of the Industrial Revolution . He was an important member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham , and
3255-424: A very large part of one of his projects, still exist to the rear. The principal difficulty was in machining the piston and cylinder. Iron workers of the day were more like blacksmiths than modern machinists , and were unable to produce the components with sufficient precision. Much capital was spent in pursuing a patent on Watt's invention. Strapped for resources, Watt was forced to take up employment—first as
Smethwick Engine - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-656: Is based in the New Smethwick Pumping Station and regularly opened by Sandwell Museum Service and The Friends of Galton Valley. The pumping station was featured in an episode of The Water Boatman presented by Alan Herd on the Discovery Shed TV channel in November 2011. Download coordinates as: Watt steam engine The Watt steam engine design was an invention of James Watt that became synonymous with steam engines during
3465-533: Is in the range of ORC systems. The Expansion Engine uses water as working fluid which is simple, cheap, non-toxic, non-flammable and non-corrosive. It works at pressure near and below atmospheric, so that sealing is not a problem. And it is a simple machine, implying cost effectiveness. Researchers from the University of Southampton / UK are currently developing a modern version of Watt's engine in order to generate energy from waste steam and waste heat. They improved
3570-415: Is told in many forms; in some Watt is a young lad, in others he is older, sometimes it's his mother's kettle, sometimes his aunt's, suggesting that it may be apocryphal. In any event, Watt did not invent the steam engine, but significantly improved the efficiency of the existing Newcomen engine by adding a separate condenser , consistent with the now-familiar principles of thermal efficiency . The story
3675-468: The BCN Old Main Line (Birmingham Canal) canal at Smethwick , not far from the Soho Foundry where it was made. The other engine, also built by Boulton and Watt , was at the other end of the summit level at Spon Lane. In 1804 a second Boulton and Watt engine was added alongside the 1779 engine. The engines were needed because local water sources were insufficient to supply water to operate
3780-473: The Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world. While working as an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow , Watt became interested in the technology of steam engines . At the time engineers such as John Smeaton were aware of the inefficiencies of Newcomen's engine and aimed to improve it. Watt's insight was to realize that contemporary engine designs wasted
3885-400: The Industrial Revolution , and it was many years before significantly new designs began to replace the basic Watt design. The first steam engines , introduced by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, were of the "atmospheric" design. At the end of the power stroke , the weight of the object being moved by the engine pulled the piston to the top of the cylinder as steam was introduced. Then the cylinder
3990-723: The Science Museum, London , while an 1817 blowing engine , formerly used at the Netherton ironworks of M W Grazebrook now decorates Dartmouth Circus , a traffic island at the start of the A38(M) motorway in Birmingham. The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan houses a replica of a 1788 Watt rotative engine. It is a full-scale working model of a Boulton-Watt engine. The American industrialist Henry Ford commissioned
4095-637: The Science Museum, London . The oldest working engine in the world is the Smethwick Engine , brought into service in May 1779 and now at Thinktank in Birmingham (formerly at the now defunct Museum of Science and Industry, Birmingham ). The oldest still in its original engine house and still capable of doing the job for which it was installed is the 1812 Boulton and Watt engine at the Crofton Pumping Station in Wiltshire . This
4200-578: The Trades House , but this has been disputed by other historians, such as Harry Lumsden . The records from this period are fragmentary, but while it is clear that Watt encountered opposition, he was nevertheless able to work and trade as a skilled metal worker , suggesting that the Incorporation of Hammermen were satisfied that he met their requirements for membership, or that Watt managed to avoid their outright opposition. In 1759, he formed
4305-417: The engine cylinder on every cycle. This energy was wasted because, later in the cycle, cold water was injected into the cylinder to condense the steam to reduce its pressure. Thus, by repeatedly heating and cooling the cylinder, the engine wasted most of its thermal energy rather than converting it into mechanical energy . Watt's critical insight, arrived at in May 1765 as he crossed Glasgow Green park,
Smethwick Engine - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-465: The parallel motion , which allowed the piston rods of the individual cylinders to move in straight lines, keeping the piston true in the cylinder, while the walking beam end moved through an arc, somewhat analogous to a crosshead in later steam engines. In 1698, the English mechanical designer Thomas Savery invented a pumping appliance that used steam to draw water directly from a well by means of
4515-474: The "rocking beam", pulled down the end of the beam, lifting the opposite end of the beam. Hence, the pump deep in the mine attached to opposite end of the beam via ropes and chains was driven. The pump pushed, rather than pulled the column of water upward, hence it could lift water any distance. Once the piston was at the bottom, the cycle repeated. The Newcomen engine was more powerful than the Savery engine. For
4620-487: The 1880s, Hathorn Davey and Co / Leeds produced a 1 hp / 125 rpm atmospheric engine with external condenser but without steam expansion. It has been argued that this was probably the last commercial atmospheric engine to be manufactured. As an atmospheric engine, it did not have a pressurized boiler. It was intended for small businesses. Watt's Expansion Engine is generally considered as of historic interest only. There are however some recent developments which may lead to
4725-437: The Newcomen engine but Watt was still discouraged by seemingly insurmountable problems before a marketable engine could be perfected. It was only after entering into partnership with Matthew Boulton that such became reality. Watt told Boulton about his ideas on improving the engine, and Boulton, an avid entrepreneur, agreed to fund development of a test engine at Soho , near Birmingham . At last Watt had access to facilities and
4830-527: The arm to feed the Smethwick Engine. In 1892, a replacement engine was built in a new pumping house, now Grade II listed , next to Brasshouse Lane, as the original Smethwick Engine was considered uneconomic to repair; the latter was removed for preservation in 1897–98 to the BCN, later British Waterways , Ocker Hill depot where it remained until acquired by Birmingham City Council . It is now part of
4935-522: The banks of the Birmingham Canal , to establish a new foundry for the manufacture of the engines. The Soho Foundry formally opened in 1796 at a time when Watt's sons, Gregory and James Jr. were heavily involved in the management of the enterprise. In 1800, the year of Watt's retirement, the firm made a total of 41 engines. Watt retired in 1800, the same year that his fundamental patent and partnership with Boulton expired. The famous partnership
5040-417: The beam, because while the rod moved vertically in a straight line, the beam was pivoted at its centre, with each side inscribing an arc. To bridge the conflicting actions of the beam and the piston, Watt developed his parallel motion . This device used a four bar linkage coupled with a pantograph to produce the required straight line motion much more cheaply than if he had used a slider type of linkage. He
5145-581: The collection of Birmingham Museums and is on display at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum at Millennium Point . It is the oldest working engine in the world. The engine house was demolished in 1897. Its original site and foundations can still be seen on Bridge Street North in Smethwick, just north of the junction with Rolfe Street. Tours of the site can be arranged through the Galton Valley Canal Heritage Centre which
5250-408: The condenser as spray absorbed the latent heat of the steam, and was determined as seven times the volume of the condensed steam. The condensate and the injected water was then removed by the air pump, and the surrounding cold water served to absorb the remaining thermal energy to retain a condenser temperature of 30 °C to 45 °C and the equivalent pressure of 0.04 to 0.1 bar At each stroke
5355-407: The cylinder and then connect with the condenser. Consequently, the direction of the power stroke might be reversed, making it easier to obtain rotary motion. Additional benefits of the double acting engine were increased efficiency, higher speed (greater power) and more regular motion. Before the development of the double acting piston, the linkage to the beam and the piston rod had been by means of
SECTION 50
#17327729212275460-409: The cylinder into the condenser where it cooled and condensed from water vapour to liquid water, maintaining a partial vacuum in the condenser that was communicated to the space of the cylinder by the connecting passage. External atmospheric pressure then pushed the piston down the cylinder. The separation of the cylinder and condenser eliminated the loss of heat that occurred when steam was condensed in
5565-406: The cylinder. The condenser remained cold and below atmospheric pressure at all times, while the cylinder remained hot at all times. Steam was drawn from the boiler to the cylinder under the piston . When the piston reached the top of the cylinder, the steam inlet valve closed and the valve controlling the passage to the condenser opened. The condenser being at a lower pressure, drew the steam from
5670-523: The design. Notably, Watt performed a lengthy series of trials on ways to seal the piston in the cylinder, which considerably reduced leakage during the power stroke, preventing power loss. All of these changes produced a more reliable design which used half as much coal to produce the same amount of power. The new design was introduced commercially in 1776, with the first example sold to the Carron Company ironworks. Watt continued working to improve
5775-410: The early 1800s, other companies introduced high-pressure steam engines, Watt was reluctant to follow suit due to safety concerns. Wanting to improve on the performance of his engines, Watt began considering the use of higher-pressure steam, as well as designs using multiple cylinders in both the double-acting concept and the multiple-expansion concept. These double-acting engines required the invention of
5880-670: The eldest of the five surviving children of Agnes Muirhead (1703–1755) and James Watt (1698–1782). Watt was baptised on 25 January 1736 at Old West Kirk , in Greenock. His mother came from a distinguished family, was well educated and said to be of forceful character, while his father was a shipwright , ship owner and contractor, and served as the Greenock's chief baillie in 1751. The Watt family's wealth came in part from Watt's father's trading in slaves and slave-produced goods. Watt's parents were Presbyterians and strong Covenanters , but despite his religious upbringing he later became
5985-427: The engine, and in 1781 introduced a system using a sun and planet gear to turn the linear motion of the engines into rotary motion. This made it useful not only in the original pumping role, but also as a direct replacement in roles where a water wheel would have been used previously. This was a key moment in the industrial revolution, since power sources could now be located anywhere instead of, as previously, needing
6090-536: The engines, and supervised the work to erect them on the customers' property. They produced almost none of the parts themselves. Watt did most of his work at his home in Harper's Hill in Birmingham, while Boulton worked at the Soho Manufactory . Gradually, the partners began to actually manufacture more and more of the parts, and by 1795, they purchased a property about a mile away from the Soho Manufactory, on
6195-598: The first sculptures he produced with the machine was a small head of his old professor friend Adam Smith . He maintained his interest in civil engineering and was a consultant on several significant projects. He proposed, for example, a method for constructing a flexible pipe to be used for pumping water under the River Clyde at Glasgow. He and his second wife travelled to France and Germany, and he purchased an estate in mid-Wales at Doldowlod House, one mile south of Llanwrthwl , which he much improved. In 1816, he took
6300-514: The first time water could be raised from a depth of over 300 feet. The first example from 1712 was able to replace a team of 500 horses that had been used to pump out the mine. Seventy-five Newcomen pumping engines were installed at mines in Britain, France, Holland, Sweden and Russia. In the next fifty years only a few small changes were made to the engine design. While Newcomen engines brought practical benefits, they were inefficient in terms of
6405-471: The functioning of the steam engine. His most notable measuring device, still in use today, is the Watt indicator incorporating a manometer to measure steam pressure within the cylinder according to the position of the piston, enabling a diagram to be produced representing the pressure of the steam as a function of its volume throughout the cycle. The oldest surviving Watt engine is Old Bess of 1777, now in
SECTION 60
#17327729212276510-538: The infringement in 1796. Boulton and Watt never collected all that was owed them, but the disputes were all settled directly between the parties or through arbitration . These trials were extremely costly in both money and time, but ultimately were successful for the firm. Before 1780, there was no good method for making copies of letters or drawings. The only method sometimes used was a mechanical one using multiple linked pens. Watt at first experimented with improving this method, but soon gave up on this approach because it
6615-412: The infringers, except for Jonathan Hornblower, all began to settle their cases. Hornblower was soon brought to trial in 1799, and the verdict of the four was decisively in favour of Watt. Their friend John Wilkinson, who had solved the problem of boring an accurate cylinder, was a particularly grievous case. He had erected about 20 engines without Boulton's and Watts' knowledge. They finally agreed to settle
6720-399: The ink, select the thin paper, to devise a method for wetting the special thin paper, and to make a press suitable for applying the correct pressure to effect the transfer. All of these required much experimentation, but he soon had enough success to patent the process a year later. Watt formed another partnership with Boulton (who provided financing) and James Keir (to manage the business) in
6825-450: The least of which was the problem of transporting the liquid product. Watt's rivals soon overtook him in developing the process, and he dropped out of the race. It was not until 1799, when Charles Tennant patented a process for producing solid bleaching powder ( calcium hypochlorite ) that it became a commercial success. By 1794, Watt had been chosen by Thomas Beddoes to manufacture apparatuses to produce, clean and store gases for use in
6930-461: The new Pneumatic Institution at Hotwells in Bristol . Watt continued to experiment with various gases, but by 1797, the medical uses for the " factitious airs " (artificial gases) had come to a dead end. Watt combined theoretical knowledge of science with the ability to apply it practically. Chemist Humphry Davy said of him, "Those who consider James Watt only as a great practical mechanic form
7035-418: The next power stroke could commence. Watt realised that the heat needed to warm the cylinder could be saved by adding a separate condensing cylinder. After the power cylinder was filled with steam, a valve was opened to the secondary cylinder, allowing the steam to flow into it and be condensed, which drew the steam from the main cylinder causing the power stroke. The condensing cylinder was water cooled to keep
7140-559: The next six years, he made other improvements and modifications to the steam engine. A double-acting engine, in which the steam acted alternately on both sides of the piston, was one. He described methods for working the steam "expansively" (i.e., using steam at pressures well above atmospheric). A compound engine , which connected two or more engines, was described. Two more patents were granted for these in 1781 and 1782. Numerous other improvements that made for easier manufacture and installation were continually implemented. One of these included
7245-526: The ongoing issues with leaks, Watt restricted his use of high pressure steam – all of his engines used steam at near atmospheric pressure. Edward Bull started constructing engines for Boulton and Watt in Cornwall in 1781. By 1792, he had started making engines of his own design, but which contained a separate condenser, and so infringed Watt's patents. Two brothers, Jabez Carter Hornblower and Jonathan Hornblower Jnr also started to build engines about
7350-401: The piston, keeping the piston and cylinder warm to prevent condensation within it. The second improvement was the utilisation of steam expansion against the vacuum on the other side of the piston. The steam supply was cut during the stroke, and the steam expanded against the vacuum on the other side. This increased the efficiency of the engine, but also created a variable torque on the shaft which
7455-575: The practical experience of craftsmen who were soon able to get the first engine working. As fully developed, it used about 75% less fuel than a similar Newcomen one. In 1775, Watt designed two large engines: one for the Bloomfield Colliery at Tipton , completed in March 1776, and one for John Wilkinson 's ironworks at Broseley in Shropshire , which was at work the following month. A third engine, at Stratford-le-Bow in east London,
7560-483: The pump rods at the bottom of the shaft. The design was commercially successful, and for the next five years, Watt was very busy installing more engines, mostly in Cornwall , for pumping water out of mines. These early engines were not manufactured by Boulton and Watt, but were made by others according to drawings made by Watt, who served in the role of consulting engineer . The erection of the engine and its shakedown
7665-400: The question of whether or not the original specification of the patent was valid was left to another trial. In the meantime, injunctions were issued against the infringers , forcing their payments of the royalties to be placed in escrow . The trial on determining the validity of the specifications which was held in the following year was inconclusive, but the injunctions remained in force and
7770-428: The reciprocating motion of the piston to produce rotational power for grinding, weaving and milling. Although a crank seemed the obvious solution to the conversion, Watt and Boulton were stymied by a patent for this, whose holder, James Pickard and his associates proposed to cross-license the external condenser. Watt adamantly opposed this and they circumvented the patent by their sun and planet gear in 1781. Over
7875-470: The replica engine from the English manufacturer Charles Summerfield in 1932. The museum also holds an original Boulton and Watt atmospheric pump engine, originally used for canal pumping in Birmingham, illustrated below, and in use in situ at the Bowyer Street pumping station, from 1796 until 1854, and afterwards removed to Dearborn in 1929. An other one is preserved at Fumel factory, France. In
7980-473: The same time. Others began to modify Newcomen engines by adding a condenser, and the mine owners in Cornwall became convinced that Watt's patent could not be enforced. They started to withhold payments to Boulton and Watt, which by 1795 had fallen on hard times. Of the total £21,000 (equivalent to £2,740,000 as of 2023) owed, only £2,500 had been received. Watt was forced to go to court to enforce his claims. He first sued Bull in 1793. The jury found for Watt, but
8085-402: The six locks either side of the canal's original summit. The locks could have been avoided if a tunnel had been built, but the ground was too unstable for James Brindley to build a tunnel using the techniques available at the time. In the 1780s, a cutting was constructed by John Smeaton , enabling three of the six locks on each side to be removed. In the 1820s, Thomas Telford constructed
8190-446: The steam condensing. At the end of the power stroke, the valve was closed so the power cylinder could be filled with steam as the piston moved to the top. The result was the same cycle as Newcomen's design, but without any cooling of the power cylinder which was immediately ready for another stroke. Watt worked on the design over a period of several years, introducing the condenser, and introducing improvements to practically every part of
8295-409: The steam engine was in a very primitive state, for the science of thermodynamics would not be formalised for nearly another 100 years. In 1763, Watt was asked to repair a model Newcomen engine belonging to the university. Even after repair, the engine barely worked. After much experimentation, Watt demonstrated that about three-quarters of the thermal energy of the steam was being consumed in heating
8400-405: The steam valve was closed, and cold water was briefly injected into the cylinder as a means of cooling the steam. This water condensed the steam and created a partial vacuum below the piston. The atmospheric pressure outside the engine was then greater than the pressure within the cylinder, thereby pushing the piston into the cylinder. The piston, attached to a chain and in turn attached to one end of
8505-404: The theory, demonstrating that theoretical efficiencies of up to 17.4% (and actual efficiencies of 11%) are possible. In order to demonstrate the principle, a 25 watt experimental model engine was built and tested. The engine incorporates steam expansion as well as new features such as electronic control. The picture shows the model built and tested in 2016. Currently, a project to build and test
8610-448: The thickness of an old shilling in any part". Boulton and Watt 's practice was to help mine-owners and other customers to build engines, supplying men to erect them and some specialised parts. However, their main profit from their patent was derived from charging a licence fee to the engine owners, based on the cost of the fuel they saved. The greater fuel efficiency of their engines meant that they were most attractive in areas where fuel
8715-413: The use of energy to power them. The system of alternately sending jets of steam, then cold water into the cylinder meant that the walls of the cylinder were alternately heated, then cooled with each stroke. Each charge of steam introduced would continue condensing until the cylinder approached working temperature once again. So at each stroke part of the potential of the steam was lost. In 1763, James Watt
8820-423: The use of the crank, Watt was obliged to come up with another solution. He adopted the epicyclic sun and planet gear system suggested by an employee William Murdoch , only later reverting, once the patent rights had expired, to the more familiar crank seen on most engines today. The main wheel attached to the crank was large and heavy, serving as a flywheel which, once set in motion, by its momentum maintained
8925-429: The use of the steam indicator which produced an informative plot of the pressure in the cylinder against its volume, which he kept as a trade secret . Another important invention, one which Watt was most proud of, was the parallel motion linkage , which was essential in double-acting engines as it produced the straight line motion required for the cylinder rod and pump, from the connected rocking beam, whose end moves in
9030-409: The vacuum principle. It employed a cylinder containing a movable piston connected by a chain to one end of a rocking beam that worked a mechanical lift pump from its opposite end. At the bottom of each stroke, steam was allowed to enter the cylinder below the piston. As the piston rose within the cylinder, drawn upward by a counterbalance, it drew in steam at atmospheric pressure. At the top of the stroke
9135-422: The warm condensate was drawn off from the condenser and sent to a hot well by a vacuum pump, which also helped to evacuate the steam from under the power cylinder. The still-warm condensate was recycled as feedwater for the boiler. Watt's next improvement to the Newcomen design was to seal the top of the cylinder and surround the cylinder with a jacket. Steam was passed through the jacket before being admitted below
9240-441: The working cylinder of a Newcomen engine. This gave the Watt engine greater efficiency than the Newcomen engine, reducing the amount of coal consumed while doing the same amount of work as a Newcomen engine. In Watt's design, the cold water was injected only into the condensation chamber. This type of condenser is known as a jet condenser . The condenser is located in a cold water bath below the cylinder. The volume of water entering
9345-532: Was a much sought-after conversationalist and companion, always interested in expanding his horizons. His personal relationships with his friends and business partners were always congenial and long-lasting. According to Lord Liverpool (Prime Minister of the UK), A more excllent and amikable man in all the relations of life I believe never existed. Watt was a prolific correspondent. During his years in Cornwall , he wrote long letters to Boulton several times per week. He
9450-408: Was able to obtain a period of training as an instrument maker for a year (1755–56), then returned to Scotland, settling in the major commercial city of Glasgow , intent on setting up his own instrument-making business. He was still very young and, having not had a full apprenticeship , did not have the usual connections via a former master to establish himself as a journeyman instrument maker. Watt
9555-487: Was also working that summer. Watt had tried unsuccessfully for several years to obtain an accurately bored cylinder for his steam engines, and was forced to use hammered iron, which was out of round and caused leakage past the piston. Joseph Wickham Roe stated in 1916: "When [John] Smeaton saw the first engine he reported to the Society of Engineers that 'Neither the tools nor the workmen existed who could manufacture such
9660-575: Was averse to publishing his results in, for example, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society however, and instead preferred to communicate his ideas in patents . He was an excellent draughtsman . He was a rather poor businessman, and especially hated bargaining and negotiating terms with those who sought to use the steam engine. In a letter to William Small in 1772, Watt confessed that "he would rather face
9765-442: Was cooled by a spray of water, which caused the steam to condense, forming a partial vacuum in the cylinder. Atmospheric pressure on the top of the piston pushed it down, lifting the work object. James Watt noticed that it required significant amounts of heat to warm the cylinder back up to the point where steam could enter the cylinder without immediately condensing. When the cylinder was warm enough that it became filled with steam
9870-560: Was expensive, particularly Cornwall , for which three engines were ordered in 1777, for the Wheal Busy , Ting Tang , and Chacewater mines. The first Watt engines were atmospheric pressure engines, like the Newcomen engine but with the condensation taking place separate from the cylinder. Driving the engines using both low pressure steam and a partial vacuum raised the possibility of reciprocating engine development. An arrangement of valves could alternately admit low pressure steam to
9975-415: Was not a true speed controller because it could not hold a set speed in response to a change in load. These improvements allowed the steam engine to replace the water wheel and horses as the main sources of power for British industry, thereby freeing it from geographical constraints and becoming one of the main drivers in the Industrial Revolution . Watt was also concerned with fundamental research on
10080-496: Was possibly created by Watt's son, James Watt, Jr. , who was determined to preserve and embellish his father's legacy. In this light, it can be seen as akin to the story of Isaac Newton and the falling apple and his discovery of gravity . Although likely a myth, the story of Watt and the kettle has a basis in fact. In trying to understand the thermodynamics of heat and steam, James Watt carried out many laboratory experiments and his diaries record that in conducting these, he used
10185-479: Was saved from this impasse by the arrival from Jamaica of astronomical instruments bequeathed by Alexander MacFarlane to the University of Glasgow – instruments that required expert attention. Watt restored them to working order and was remunerated . These instruments were eventually installed in the Macfarlane Observatory . Subsequently, three professors offered him the opportunity to set up
10290-428: Was so cumbersome. He instead decided to try to physically transfer ink from the front of the original to the back of another sheet, moistened with a solvent, and pressed to the original. The second sheet had to be thin, so that the ink could be seen through it when the copy was held up to the light, thus reproducing the original exactly. Watt started to develop the process in 1779, and made many experiments to formulate
10395-400: Was supervised by Watt, at first, and then by men in the firm's employ, with the actual work being accomplished by the purchaser of the engine. Supervising erectors included at various times William Murdoch , John Rennie , William Playfair , John Southern , Logan Henderson , James Lawson , William Brunton , Isaac Perrins and others. These were large machines. The first, for example, had
10500-478: Was to cause the steam to condense in a separate chamber apart from the piston , and to maintain the temperature of the cylinder at the same temperature as the injected steam by surrounding it with a "steam jacket". Thus, very little energy was absorbed by the cylinder on each cycle, making more available to perform useful work. Watt had a working model later that same year. Despite a potentially workable design, there were still substantial difficulties in constructing
10605-624: Was transferred to the men's sons, Matthew Robinson Boulton and James Watt, Junior . Longtime firm engineer William Murdoch was soon made a partner and the firm prospered. Watt continued to invent other things before and during his semi-retirement. Within his home in Handsworth , Staffordshire, Watt made use of a garret room as a workshop, and it was here that he worked on many of his inventions. Among other things, he invented and constructed machines for copying sculptures and medallions which worked very well, but which he never patented. One of
10710-514: Was undesirable for many applications, in particular pumping. Watt therefore limited the expansion to a ratio of 1:2 (i.e. the steam supply was cut at half stroke). This increased the theoretical efficiency from 6.4% to 10.6%, with only a small variation in piston pressure. Watt did not use high pressure steam because of safety concerns. These improvements led to the fully developed version of 1776 that actually went into production. The separate condenser showed dramatic potential for improvements on
10815-654: Was used to pump water for the Kennet and Avon Canal ; on certain weekends throughout the year the modern pumps are switched off and the two steam engines at Crofton still perform this function. The oldest extant rotative steam engine, the Whitbread Engine (from 1785, the third rotative engine ever built), is located in the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia. A Boulton-Watt engine of 1788 may be found in
10920-399: Was very proud of his solution. Having the beam connected to the piston shaft by a means that applied force alternately in both directions also meant that it was possible to use the motion of the beam to turn a wheel. The simplest solution to transforming the action of the beam into a rotating motion was to connect the beam to a wheel by a crank , but because another party had patent rights on
11025-419: Was working as instrument maker at the University of Glasgow when he was assigned the job of repairing a model Newcomen engine and noted how inefficient it was. In 1765, Watt conceived the idea of equipping the engine with a separate condensation chamber, which he called a "condenser" . Because the condenser and the working cylinder were separate, condensation occurred without significant loss of heat from
#226773