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Dec 24, 1050
Hero's Engine
Hero of Alexandria put water in a hollow ball. He then put a hollow stake through the ball with holes on the side at each end. When the water evaporated, the steam exited and spun the ball. This is comparable to a reaction turbine. -
Papin's Engine
Denis Papin used a piston. The fire heated the water until it evaporated, the steam built up pressure in the engine and forced the piston upwards. -
Savery's Engine
Thomas Savery made the first successful steam powered pump. He used a boiler that heated water, bringing it up through a pipe. This is comparable to a pump jack. -
Newcomen's Engine
Thomas Newcomen improved Savery's engine, he also used steam and a boiler. When cold water is sprayed on the outside of the cylinder, it would condense the steam and move the piston back to its initial position. When the steam pushed the piston up, the rod connected to the piston moved the pivoting contraption. This pivoting beam was connected to the mine pump. The movement back and forth (up and down), powered the pump. This is comparable to a pump jack. -
Watt's Engine
James Watt improved upon the Newcomen engine by creating separate cylinders for hot and cold water, this dramatically improved the efficiency of the engine. The Watt engine was in close resemblance to a pump jack. This engine remained unchallenged for nearly a century until the more powerful, internal combustion engine, was invented. This Watt engine was rather large, due to the massive size of the boiling cylinders needed to operate the machine. They were also very inefficient due to heat loss.
