William McNaught (1813–1881) was a Scottish engineer, from

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, who patented a

compound steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

in 1845. This was a technique of improving the efficiency of a standard simple

Boulton & Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Engli ...

beam engine A beam engine is a type of steam engine where a pivoted overhead beam is used to apply the force from a vertical piston to a vertical connecting rod. This configuration, with the engine directly driving a pump, was first used by Thomas Newco ...

. The engine was compounded by adding a high-pressure cylinder between the support column and the flywheel, on the side opposite the low-pressure cylinder. This improvement could be retrospectively fitted to existing engines.

Family

William McNaught was born on 27 May 1813 at

Paisley, Renfrewshire Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Wate ...

, Scotland, son of John McNaught, the inventor of the McNaught

indicator Indicator may refer to: Biology * Environmental indicator of environmental health (pressures, conditions and responses) * Ecological indicator of ecosystem health (ecological processes) * Health indicator, which is used to describe the health o ...

Engine building

McNaught patented his compound steam engine in 1845 (Patent no. 11001). He relocated to Manchester in 1849. The Robertson Street workshop was operated by William McNaught & Son as "Makers of Steam-Engine Indicators, Steam Gauges, etc" at 12 Hampden Terrace, Glasgow, at least until 1895. MacNaught died in

Chorlton upon Medlock Chorlton-on-Medlock or Chorlton-upon-Medlock is an inner city area of Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, Chorlton-on-Medlock is bordered to the north by the River Medlock, which runs immediately south ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, on 8 January 1881, leaving two sons who carried on the business. He was buried in Glasgow.

McNaught'ed beam engines

A beam engine might run at , using one low-pressure cylinder steamed by an 1840 wagon boiler, but when McNaught'ed the new high-pressure cylinder could run at over , which the then-new

Lancashire boiler A shell or flued boiler is an early and relatively simple form of boiler used to make steam, usually for the purpose of driving a steam engine. The design marked a transitional stage in boiler development, between the early haystack boilers and t ...

could produce. In addition the stress on the centre of the beam was substantially reduced, and stress on the crank pin slightly reduced. This was important in preventing beam failure. Many engine makers McNaughted existing beam engines, including William McNaught of Rochdale, as the thermodynamic (and fuel efficiency) benefits of high-pressure steam were beginning to be understood.

Bolton Steam Museum Bolton Steam Museum is a museum in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which houses a variety of preserved steam engines. Based in the cotton store of the former Atlas Mill in Mornington Road, it is owned and run by the Northern Mill Engi ...

displays a McNaughtt'ed beam engine. The Cellars Clough mill engine was McNaughte'd by Woodhouse and Mitchell of Brighouse in 1909.

References

Notes Bibliography * * * 1813 births 1881 deaths British steam engine engineers Engineers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Scottish inventors {{Scotland-engineer-stub