Steam power developed slowly over a period of several hundred years, progressing through expensive and fairly limited devices in the early 17th century, to useful pumps for
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...
in 1700, and then to Watt's improved
steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...
designs in the late 18th century. It is these later designs, introduced just when the need for practical power was growing due to the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, that truly made steam power commonplace.
Development phases
Early examples
*1st century AD –
Hero of Alexandria
Hero of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἥρων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, ''Heron ho Alexandreus'', also known as Heron of Alexandria ; 60 AD) was a Greek mathematician and engineer who was active in his native city of Alexandria, Roman Egypt. H ...
describes the
Aeolipile
An aeolipile, aeolipyle, or eolipile, from the Greek "αιολουπυλη", also known as a Hero's engine, is a simple, bladeless radial steam turbine which spins when the central water container is heated. Torque is produced by steam jets ex ...
, as an example of the power of heated air or water. The device consists of a rotating ball spun by steam jets; it produced little power and had no practical application, but is nevertheless the first known device moved by steam pressure. He also describes a way of transferring water from one vessel to another using pressure. The methods involved filling a bucket, the weight of which worked tackle to open temple doors, which were then closed again by a deadweight once the water in the bucket had been drawn out by a vacuum caused by cooling of the initial vessel.
* He claims it was built by Pope Sylvester II.
*Late 15th century AD:
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on ...
described the
Architonnerre
The Architonnerre (Architronito) was a steam-powered cannon, a description of which is found in the papers of Leonardo da Vinci dating to the late 15th century, although he attributes its invention to Archimedes in the 3rd century BC.
Leonardo' ...
, a steam-powered cannon.
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Development of a practical steam engine
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The Newcomen Engine: Steam power in practice
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Watt's engine
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Improving power
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Earlier versions of the steam engine indicator were in use by 1851, though relatively unknown.
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*Steam turbines are made to 1,500 MW (2,000,000 hp) to generate electricity.
[Copied from Wikipedia ]Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam tu ...
. See that article for references. Retrieved Aug 24, 2021
See also
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Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...
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Steam power during the Industrial Revolution
Improvements to the steam engine were some of the most important technologies of the Industrial Revolution, although steam did not replace water power in importance in Britain until after the Industrial Revolution. From Englishman Thomas Newcome ...
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Maritime timeline
This is a timeline of events in maritime history.
Prehistory
* About 45,000 BC: first humans arrive in the islands of Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia via the now sunken Sundaland and Sahul land bridges. They had no watercraft te ...
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Timeline of heat engine technology
Notes
External links
The Growth of the Steam EngineAlternative timeline: If electric generators & motors had preceded steam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of Steam Power
Steam power
Steam power
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...
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