We are curious about almost everything around us. In earlier times, when engines operated with steam, people wondered how the process takes place. In modern times railways got electrified, but back then operation the train was a smoky process. The operation took place with the manual input of coal. It was a great invention for the easy mode of transportation. To study the background of engine discovery, let’s learn about who invented the steam engine?
James Watt: The inventor of Steam engine
Once a young man sitting by the fireplace in his mother’s cottage, watched the steam rising from the kettle placed on the fire. He keenly viewed it and gave deep thought to it. Later in 1763, he started working as a mathematical-instrument maker at the University of Glasgow.
One day, a model of steam pumping engine came to him for repair. It was the model of Thomas Newcomen. He analysed its operation and discovered a logical fact. He noted that the alternate heating and cooling of the engine wasted power. He kept experimenting on it for weeks. Finally, he derived that the cylinder should be kept hot to prevent loss of power. But, to condense the steam, the cooling still took place. It was a problematic situation.
Later on, he found the solution for the cooling problem. He discovered that if the steam gets condensed in a separate vessel from the cylinder, the problem can get resolved. By this method, the condensing vessel can be kept cool, and the cylinder can be kept hot at the same time. Then a prototype for the cylinder and condensing vessel was made. It worked out and the discovery of the ‘steam engine’ took place.
