Why was the steam engine invented

Steam engines are mechanisms that use heat to create steam, which in turn performs mechanical processes, known generally as work. While several inventors and innovators worked on various aspects of using steam for power, the major development of early steam engines involves three inventors and three principal engine designs. 

The first steam engine used for work was patented by the Englishman Thomas Savery in 1698 and was used to pump water out of mine shafts. The basic process involved a cylinder that was filled with water. Steam was then delivered to the cylinder, displacing the water, which flowed out through a one-way valve. Once all of the water was ejected, the cylinder was sprayed with cool water to drop the cylinder's temperature and condense the steam inside. This created a vacuum inside the cylinder, which then pulled up additional water to refill the cylinder, completing the pump cycle. 

Another Englishman, Thomas Newcomen, improved on Savery's pump with a design he developed around 1712. Newcomen's engine included a piston inside of a cylinder. The top of the piston was connected to one end of a pivoting beam. A pump mechanism was connected to the other end of the beam so that water was drawn up whenever the beam tilted up on the pump end. To propel the pump, steam was delivered to the piston cylinder. At the same time, a counterweight pulled the beam down on the pump end, which made the piston rise to the top of the steam cylinder. Once the cylinder was full of steam, cool water was sprayed inside the cylinder, quickly condensing the steam and creating a vacuum inside the cylinder. This caused the piston to drop, moving the beam down on the piston end and up on the pump end. The cycle then repeated automatically as long as steam was applied to the cylinder. 

Newcomen's piston design effectively created a separation between the water being pumped out and the cylinder used to create the pumping power. This greatly improved on the efficiency of Savery's original design. However, because Savery's held a broad patent on his own steam pump, Newcomen had to collaborate with Savery to patent the piston pump. 

Scotsman James Watt significantly improved and developed the steam engine over the second half of the 18th century, making it a truly viable piece of machinery that helped start the Industrial Revolution. The first major innovation of Watt's was to include a separate condenser so that the steam didn't have to be cooled in the same cylinder that contained the piston. This meant the piston cylinder remained at a much more consistent temperature, greatly increasing the fuel efficiency of the engine. Watt also developed an engine that could rotate a shaft, rather than an up-and-down pumping action, as well as a flywheel that allowed for smooth power transfer between the engine and the workload. With these and other innovations, the steam engine became applicable to a variety of factory processes, and Watt and his business partner, Matthew Boulton, built several hundred engines for industrial use. 

The early 19th century saw major innovation of high-pressure steam engines, which were much more efficient than the low-pressure designs of Watt's and the others steam-engine pioneers. This led to the development of much smaller, more powerful steam engines that could be used to power trains and boats and to perform a wider range of industrial tasks, such as running saws in mills. Two important innovators of these engines were American Oliver Evans and Englishman Richard Trevithick. Over time, steam engines were replaced by the internal combustion engine for most types of locomotion and industrial work, but the use of steam generators to create electricity remains an important part of electrical power production today. 

Steam Engine

and Harvey Nathaniel Davis (1913)

Steam engines use hot steam from boiling water to drive a piston (or pistons) back and forth. The movement of the piston was then used to power a machine or turn a wheel. To create the steam, most steam engines heated the water by burning coal.

Why was it important?

Who invented the steam engine?

One of the first steam engines was invented by Thomas Savery in 1698. It wasn't very useful, but other inventors made improvements over time. The first useful steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712. The Newcomen engine was used to pump water out of mines.

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Where was the steam engine used?

Are steam engines still used today?

Source: State Library of Queensland

• The unit of power (the Watt) was named after inventor James Watt.
• James Watt used the term "horsepower" to describe how much power his engine could produce. He used it to compare his engine to the actual output of how much power horses could produce.
• One horsepower is equal to 745.7 Watts.
• The first successful commercial steamboat was the Clermont developed by Robert Fulton in 1807.

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The steam engine was later improved by British inventor, James Watt.  In 1764, Watt was given a Newcomen steam engine to repair. He started working on it and soon realized that it was inefficient. As a result, Watt wanted to improve the design. He was successful, and found a way to prevent steam from escaping from the engine by adding a separate condensing chamber. Watt patented his new steam engine design, and it paved the way for other mechanical design work.   With Watt’s improvements steam engines were soon used in many different industries and for many purposes.  They were bought by mine owners, cotton mills, and waterworks and as a result, the steam engines helped to power the Industrial Revolution, allowing once very manual work to be replaced by engines.

 Steam engines helped to improve productivity and increase efficiency.  For example, later innovations, such as the steam train and boat used steam engine technology to revolutionize transportation.  In 1807, Robert Fulton used steam power to create the first steamboat.  His invention revolutionized travel and trade throughout Europe and in Britain in particular.  The steam boat allowed more goods to be shipped by canal and waterways which furthered the impacts of industrialization.  In 1814, George Stephenson, utilized the steam engine to develop the first steam train.  Similar to the steam boat, the steam train increased the ability of industrialized nations to transport people and goods long distances.  This allowed industrialized nations, such as Britain, to move goods to market and to transport raw materials into factories.

In conclusion, the steam engine was a major invention of the Industrial Revolution and was important to the advancement of industrialization throughout different sectors, such as: the textile industry, mining and transportation.