As a born and bred Cornishman who's hero has always been Richard Trevithick I must say this is so very impressive. This is quality stuff, the presentation the graphics and commentary is so professional it could easily be a BBC documentary. Whenever I'm traveling 'up country' so many people seem to overlook Trevithick's achievements and in many case have never heard of him and wrongly assume Stevenson produced the first successful steam engine to run on rails.. He was a true pioneer of his day and a great son of Cornwall. Such a shame that such a gifted man ended his days in poverty..
I'm glad you enjoyed the video Chris - though not a steam engineer, it was fun reverse engineering Richards Puffing Devil - much of which only began coming to light once the CGI model began to develop. I've known of Trevithick for many years now and always felt uncomfortable when one hears of Stevenson as being the inventor of the steam rail engine. Notwithstanding - I was pleased to see a life-sized statue of Trevithick at the York Railway Museum. As is always the case within the world of progress and invention - others get to stand on the shoulders of giants ;)
As a Cornish person living near Trevithick's birthplace I feel very proud of his achievements. Yet, when at Grammar school in The 1960 s the work of Stephenson was the only one who was taught, ignoring Trevithick!
This is such a good video! Loved the detail you went into the mechanisms and methods of manufacture. Usually sorely missing from documentaries and the like.
Today, you'd probably use a computer to design something like this. However, it's hard to imagine using a pen and paper, plus doing all the Math yourself, we take computers for granted these days. With that being said, high-pressure engines were cutting edge engineering, just imagine designing materials to handle the heat and pressure.
An absolutely first-class presentation my brother...... I learned - for the first time - just how a basic & early steam engine operates.... A thousand thanks... Gus, Old Windsor, Berkshire, UK.
Interesting that he invented the feed water heater, feed pump and steam blower. All of these improvements didn't happen until the early 20th century Steam locomotive designs. However the Lifting and Non lifting injectors were invented. In the non lifting injector, the injector had to be below the water level in the tender so gravity would act as a feed pump. With the lifting injector, it could be mounted above the water level with steam syphons doing the work via check valves. When stopped, the steam loco would blow steam up the stack to cause a draft. The vent valve shown here had been replaced by steam cocks which the engineer blew to rid condensation from forming in front of the piston as they cylinders would cool. That prevented hydro lock which blow the cylinder head off the cylinder.
I wonder if he would have worked all this out had the engine not caught fire after completing its Maiden journey in the barn of a local inn whilst Trevithick was downing a jar or two ;)
There is a larger diam wheel on each side of the boiler above and forward of the drive wheels. These wheels have a shaft between them, and a stud in the wheels center that appears to ride on the tire of the rear wheel. These wheels are also geared to the rear wheels. Is this dual wheeled assembly some sort of side to side synchronizer?
That's correct - It's there to keep both wheels synchronized. They act as flywheels and sit between the drive wheel and a large cog attached to the drive wheel - which is visible at 19:30 mins into the video.
That must have taken some work to put this together Mike.. Your commentary is as impressive as the CGI you create.. Really interesting and clearly explained, another professional video..
It took me a month to create the 3D Model and a week to produce the video and Animations. However, it did take a couple of weeks to reverse engineer the engine as the folk who made the replica had basically forgotten how they did it, and the drawings they sent me were for a stationary engine used for pumping water at a mine - so no pressure there then ;) If I carry on like this - I will end up becoming a steam engineer :)
what was the purpose of the flywheel gear setup ? was it used to balance out the reciprocating motion ? and why does it look like there was some friction drive between the flywheel shaft and the drive wheels
As you can see, the engine has a single cylinder and probably produces an uneven amount of torque throughout the power cycle. The momentum of the flywheel smooths out any uneven amounts of torque. Later locomotives such as George and Robert Stephenson's Locomotion #1 have two cylinders, the uneven torque of one cylinder is cancelled out by the torque of the other and a flywheel isn't required.
Superb video! I am looking to make a scale model of a Puffing Devil. Would you be able to point me towards the plans you used for this? I have hunted high and low but cannot find them.
All I can say is that I obtained a confidential set from the Trevithick Society and was asked not to print a hard copy, publish or pass the plans on to anyone. That's not to say they may not issue you with a set of plans. Having said that, it wouldn't be beyond someone's abilities to take the dimensions which I have stated in the video - along with doing some video screen grabs as a means of producing your own set of plans ;)
@@RecklessModelling - You may wish to visit this link - you will find a poster that I also created for the Trevithick Society... If they have saved it at the size I created it then it may prove useful ;) cornishbirdblog.com/2018/08/02/stephensons-rocket-in-truro/
These are great videos you are making... very detailed and informative... not the normal watered down stuff that is shown on the history shows... BTW have you ever studied George Brayton, John Holland or the Fenian Ram... ?
Not before you mentioned them John - As I mention in the videos.... I'm not an Engineer, although I can find my way around a good set of drawings and reverse engineer quite a bit when constructing a 3D Model. It's often during the construction that things begin to jump out at you. Glad you found the video of interest :)
I made a working copy of a Brayton .. It's on my channel if you are interested... colled the Brayton Hydrocarbon engine... Brayton also called his engines "Ready Motors" since unlike a steam engine they could be made to run in a few minutes time.. The Brayton engine of 1872 was really the bridge between the steam engine and the internal combustion engine. It was fairly powerful for it's size and was the first IC engine that could be used for motive power.. John Holland put one in a small submarine in about 1875.. Holland Boat #1.. this convinced the Fenian Brotherhood that an engine could power a submarine and so they funded the effort and Holland built boat #2 also known as the Fenian Ram. The Ram was powered by a double acting Brayton engine that produced about 15-17 hp. The speed of the 37' Ram was about 9 knots. The Ram is preserved in the Patterson Museum in New Jersey USA. The Brayton engine inside the hull is still complete and is one of 6 known original Brayton engines. I started this thread on an engine forum a few years ago.. www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115633 it contains a lot of information about the engines and also links to pictures and an article about the Fenian Ram. No one I'm aware of has ever made an animation of a Brayton engine. I've tried to get several folks interested but so far no luck. I'd do it myself but I don't have access to the solftware or the skills.. so maybe you might be interested in taking on the project? Ether way thank you for making your videos.. They are really great!
20:22 I think that was the problem with this engine, it could get stuck if the piston was at top or bottom-dead center, and would require a push to get moving. Later designs that were used in railway locomotives, had multiple cylinders operating out of phase with one another, i.e.: one piston was moving up while the other was moving down, this meant that one cylinder was always ready for more active steam to get moving. But I'm only guessing, I'm NOT an expert in steam engines.
This does still happen on steam locomotive there is video on here of Flying Scotsman do this on preserved railway but multiple make it far less likely . Its called being centred they just don't move off when regulator opened way round this is to set reverser in opposite direction move back a bit to get the piston off its centre
@@TugIronChief You never driven a steam locomotive then ,it's called being centered only way to get it moving is setting reverser in opposite direction. Having had farther and grandad that were mainline steam drivers most of there lives they have both come across this problem. If you stop with cylinder centered the locomotive will produce little tractive effort it will likely. move off light engine but won't lift the train
@@TugIronChief Scotsmen was centered not hydro locked as you can clearly see driver had cylinder cocks open as he should have done . They were blowing steam as they would if cylinders are clear
hi, what would happen if you slightly nudged the hand operated rod that rotates the cylindrical valve ? (not completing the full range of motion contrary to when the tappet acts on it), would the timing be off until you move the rod again in either direction through its full range of motion? or could something break? (being torn off for being in the wrong position relative to the tappet)
I have no idea... On what would or would not happen has to come down to what sounds reasonable. Until Richard got the Puffing Devil to move either forwards or backwards, then his plans, drawings, engineering were nothing more than reasoned theory and principals. The engine took months to plan and construct, but was driven and destroyed in just a few hours or less. As I said in the video... Maybe I'm overthinking this.... My cue to you to also.... perhaps... explore the Devil in more detail and its possibilities and perhaps being able to see something which Richard saw in his mind's eye for the very first time - maybe even before any other man, woman or child up to that moment in time. ;)
Well glad you enjoyed it Paul - Yep I'm getting better with each passing week, and now I have the car am getting out more. Hope Yourself & Lowry are fine and in good health too.
My question: There is a smaller wheel next to the main driving wheel which appears to be turned via gear teeth on the main wheel, What does this wheel do/drive.
As I understood it from the drawings - it acted as an additional stabilizer for the main drive wheels - ensuring both wheels worked in unison and revolved at the same speed and rate - removing any torque which would cause the main axel to twist out of shape.
@@MybitofHistory He also made a steam powered bus. Basically mounting one of his engines to a stagecoach. It really is sad that he died penniless, but I guess that it was more economical to use horses.
I was lent a set of Drawings by the Trevithick Society - I no longer have them, but I did produce a scaled diagrammatic poster of the Puffing Devil which was on their website for students to download - I know there is also a copy on Printerest. Hope that helps.
Britain from 1800 to 1900. 20,000 Waterwheels decreased in number. Windmills decreased in number. England's Thomas Newcomen's 1,500 Atmospheric Pumps disappeared. Scotland's James Watt's 500 Steam Engines and their descendants increased in number to 10,000,000 !!! To every SINGLE Waterwheel in 1800 you could now add 500 Watt type Steam Engines in 1900. This WAS the Industrial Revolution. A 500 times increase in Power Output for the whole country in one human lifetime. Take away James Watt's Steam Power and you get no Industrial Revolution. Just Newcomen Atmospheric Pumps and Arkwright's Water-Power.
I can't recall anywhere in the history books / accounts of James Watt ever having the imagination to stick 4 wheels to a steam engine.... I thought you would have nown that ;)
Because he didn’t. Watt, as is well documented, wanted nothing to do with what he termed ‘strong steam’, or high pressure steam. His huge stationary engines worked somewhere around 10-15 psi, and relied on condensing the steam to create a partial vacuum in order to get useful work done. What he actually invented was the separate condenser, which increased the thermal efficiency of the low-pressure engine that had already been invented, in a crude form, by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, 24 years before Watt was born. Watt died in 1819 at the age of 83, 18 years after Trevithick built Puffing Devil, and 16 years after the first locomotive ran on rails in 1803.
Newcomen's Atmospheric Pumps disappeared when Watt's Steam Pumps appeared and Arkwright's Water-Power disappeared when Watt's Steam Engines appeared. Newcomen's Pump supplied Atmospheric Power. Watt's Pumps and Engines supplied Steam Power. Atmospheric Pressure opposes a Steam Engine. Watt's separate condenser on his new engines recycled hot water and eliminated 14.7 psi of opposition from Atmospheric Pressure, with the vacuum created by condensation.
Not quite.. Newcomer’s engine also relied on condensing the steam to create a vacuum beneath the piston, which means that the atmospheric pressure becomes the main motive force, and the same is true for Watt’s engines. The main difference between the two is that Newcomen injected cold water directly into the cylinder to achieve this, and as a result the entire mass of the piston and cylinder needed to cool to the point of condensation, meaning that the next cycle had to waste a tremendous amount heat energy from the incoming steam to re-heat the cylinder before condensation would cease and the upward stroke could commence. This gave the Newcomen engine a phenomenally low fuel efficiency, or ‘duty’ as it was termed at the time. By creating a separate condenser that could be kept at an even temperature at all times, Watt effectively eliminated this cyclical waste of energy, as the cylinder and piston could be kept hot throughout the cycle, thus achieving a significant increase in efficiency. Although many new engines were built at the Soho foundry, Watt’s business model was nonetheless heavily dependent on the fitting of this separate condenser to a large number of existing Newcomen engines, and profiting by taking a share for themselves every year of the savings that were gained from this increased fuel efficiency, a policy that became increasingly unpopular in Cornwall. However, these were still low pressure engines, and still wildly inefficient when compared to the compact high pressure direct-acting engines of Trevithick, operating at 50lb to the square inch, a fact that was proved when a Soho built engine was trialled head to head with a Trevithick ‘puffer’ to see which did the greater amount of work for a given consumption of coal, and lost quite unequivocally. Watt undoubtedly contributed a great deal to the development of the steam engine and the understanding of its thermodynamic performance, and deserves to be recognised as such, but ultimately he is part of a much wider and more complex narrative, which still seems to be blurred by his somewhat litigious nature and an unfortunate tendency to engineer his own legacy.
As a born and bred Cornishman who's hero has always been Richard Trevithick I must say this is so very impressive. This is quality stuff, the presentation the graphics and commentary is so professional it could easily be a BBC documentary. Whenever I'm traveling 'up country' so many people seem to overlook Trevithick's achievements and in many case have never heard of him and wrongly assume Stevenson produced the first successful steam engine to run on rails.. He was a true pioneer of his day and a great son of Cornwall. Such a shame that such a gifted man ended his days in poverty..
I'm glad you enjoyed the video Chris - though not a steam engineer, it was fun reverse engineering Richards Puffing Devil - much of which only began coming to light once the CGI model began to develop. I've known of Trevithick for many years now and always felt uncomfortable when one hears of Stevenson as being the inventor of the steam rail engine. Notwithstanding - I was pleased to see a life-sized statue of Trevithick at the York Railway Museum. As is always the case within the world of progress and invention - others get to stand on the shoulders of giants ;)
As a Cornish person living near Trevithick's birthplace I feel very proud of his achievements. Yet, when at Grammar school in The 1960 s the work of Stephenson was the only one who was taught, ignoring Trevithick!
I saw this replica puffin devil being built and take it first maiden move! I used to work at Holmans right on the other side of the wall from this!
Hope you enjoyed the video and nice of you to share your experience ;)
very well explained, I've always wanted to build one of these
Glad you enjoyed - hope you get to build one ;)
Hats off to you for an excellent video. A professional production indeed.
Glad you enjoyed ;)
Very clear video and voice-over. Excellent.
Thanks Peter ;)
This is such a good video! Loved the detail you went into the mechanisms and methods of manufacture. Usually sorely missing from documentaries and the like.
Glad you enjoyed - I had fun making it ;)
Great video, thank you. Travithick must have been an amazing man, what he achived with the materials of the time is astounding.
Today, you'd probably use a computer to design something like this. However, it's hard to imagine using a pen and paper, plus doing all the Math yourself, we take computers for granted these days. With that being said, high-pressure engines were cutting edge engineering, just imagine designing materials to handle the heat and pressure.
Stunning work - by both Richard and you!
Glad you enjoyed ;)
The man responsible for inventing Global Warming.
@@neilfranklin5644 Well yes, there is that...
@neilfranklin5644
lol…. So guess HUNDREDS of years of chimneys spewing coal and wood smoke didn’t have anything to do with it! 🤣😂😆
An absolutely first-class presentation my brother......
I learned - for the first time - just how a basic & early steam engine operates....
A thousand thanks...
Gus,
Old Windsor,
Berkshire,
UK.
Puffing devil! That’s a puffing work of art!
Glad you enjoyed David ;)
Interesting that he invented the feed water heater, feed pump and steam blower. All of these improvements didn't happen until the early 20th century Steam locomotive designs. However the Lifting and Non lifting injectors were invented. In the non lifting injector, the injector had to be below the water level in the tender so gravity would act as a feed pump. With the lifting injector, it could be mounted above the water level with steam syphons doing the work via check valves. When stopped, the steam loco would blow steam up the stack to cause a draft. The vent valve shown here had been replaced by steam cocks which the engineer blew to rid condensation from forming in front of the piston as they cylinders would cool. That prevented hydro lock which blow the cylinder head off the cylinder.
I wonder if he would have worked all this out had the engine not caught fire after completing its Maiden journey in the barn of a local inn whilst Trevithick was downing a jar or two ;)
There is a larger diam wheel on each side of the boiler above and forward of the drive wheels. These wheels have a shaft between them, and a stud in the wheels center that appears to ride on the tire of the rear wheel. These wheels are also geared to the rear wheels. Is this dual wheeled assembly some sort of side to side synchronizer?
That's correct - It's there to keep both wheels synchronized. They act as flywheels and sit between the drive wheel and a large cog attached to the drive wheel - which is visible at 19:30 mins into the video.
You're amazing
Well I'm not going to disagree with you Arash ;) Glad you found it of interest :)
what a mashine !!!! WHAT AN INVENTOR !!! Thank you Mr Trevitick !
Very informative. Magnificent graphic and pithy narration. Great work!
Marvellous sir......
Thank you.
Hope you've watched the Newcomen one too ;)
One of JT's steam engines is on permanent display at The Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Telford in Shropshire, from memory i think it was a staionary model.
That must have taken some work to put this together Mike.. Your commentary is as impressive as the CGI you create.. Really interesting and clearly explained, another professional video..
It took me a month to create the 3D Model and a week to produce the video and Animations. However, it did take a couple of weeks to reverse engineer the engine as the folk who made the replica had basically forgotten how they did it, and the drawings they sent me were for a stationary engine used for pumping water at a mine - so no pressure there then ;) If I carry on like this - I will end up becoming a steam engineer :)
You must know enough to build yourself a working replica yourself, lol...
Impressive mate.. I'm an engineer and I explain stuff to youngans but no way do I have your clarity and skill.
Imagine showing Travikthick the assembly of a Lamborghini V12, and then running it up to full rpm? He'd probably be amazed.
Slightly ;)
Rest assured, in 2021, people flying to the moon in steam-powered balloons are still out of reach.
Excellent
0:00 Track 1 Buzzinga on Fire Haven from My singing monster
what was the purpose of the flywheel gear setup ? was it used to balance out the reciprocating motion ? and why does it look like there was some friction drive between the flywheel shaft and the drive wheels
As you can see, the engine has a single cylinder and probably produces an uneven amount of torque throughout the power cycle. The momentum of the flywheel smooths out any uneven amounts of torque. Later locomotives such as George and Robert Stephenson's Locomotion #1 have two cylinders, the uneven torque of one cylinder is cancelled out by the torque of the other and a flywheel isn't required.
He was to James Watt as Tesla is to Edison.
Superb video! I am looking to make a scale model of a Puffing Devil. Would you be able to point me towards the plans you used for this? I have hunted high and low but cannot find them.
All I can say is that I obtained a confidential set from the Trevithick Society and was asked not to print a hard copy, publish or pass the plans on to anyone. That's not to say they may not issue you with a set of plans. Having said that, it wouldn't be beyond someone's abilities to take the dimensions which I have stated in the video - along with doing some video screen grabs as a means of producing your own set of plans ;)
@@MybitofHistory No problem at all. As you say the key details are in the video and I will message the society as well. Thanks again for this video.
@@RecklessModelling - You may wish to visit this link - you will find a poster that I also created for the Trevithick Society... If they have saved it at the size I created it then it may prove useful ;) cornishbirdblog.com/2018/08/02/stephensons-rocket-in-truro/
Can y suggest about a video of the funtion of trecithick's 1803 penydarren?
The 1805 isn't that much different from the 1803 ;) Here's the link ;) th-cam.com/video/EgGPFxnHdAQ/w-d-xo.html
These are great videos you are making... very detailed and informative... not the normal watered down stuff that is shown on the history shows... BTW have you ever studied George Brayton, John Holland or the Fenian Ram... ?
Not before you mentioned them John - As I mention in the videos.... I'm not an Engineer, although I can find my way around a good set of drawings and reverse engineer quite a bit when constructing a 3D Model. It's often during the construction that things begin to jump out at you. Glad you found the video of interest :)
I made a working copy of a Brayton .. It's on my channel if you are interested... colled the Brayton Hydrocarbon engine... Brayton also called his engines "Ready Motors" since unlike a steam engine they could be made to run in a few minutes time.. The Brayton engine of 1872 was really the bridge between the steam engine and the internal combustion engine. It was fairly powerful for it's size and was the first IC engine that could be used for motive power.. John Holland put one in a small submarine in about 1875.. Holland Boat #1.. this convinced the Fenian Brotherhood that an engine could power a submarine and so they funded the effort and Holland built boat #2 also known as the Fenian Ram. The Ram was powered by a double acting Brayton engine that produced about 15-17 hp. The speed of the 37' Ram was about 9 knots. The Ram is preserved in the Patterson Museum in New Jersey USA. The Brayton engine inside the hull is still complete and is one of 6 known original Brayton engines. I started this thread on an engine forum a few years ago.. www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115633 it contains a lot of information about the engines and also links to pictures and an article about the Fenian Ram. No one I'm aware of has ever made an animation of a Brayton engine. I've tried to get several folks interested but so far no luck. I'd do it myself but I don't have access to the solftware or the skills.. so maybe you might be interested in taking on the project? Ether way thank you for making your videos.. They are really great!
20:22 I think that was the problem with this engine, it could get stuck if the piston was at top or bottom-dead center, and would require a push to get moving. Later designs that were used in railway locomotives, had multiple cylinders operating out of phase with one another, i.e.: one piston was moving up while the other was moving down, this meant that one cylinder was always ready for more active steam to get moving. But I'm only guessing, I'm NOT an expert in steam engines.
This does still happen on steam locomotive there is video on here of Flying Scotsman do this on preserved railway but multiple make it far less likely . Its called being centred they just don't move off when regulator opened way round this is to set reverser in opposite direction move back a bit to get the piston off its centre
@@TugIronChief You never driven a steam locomotive then ,it's called being centered only way to get it moving is setting reverser in opposite direction. Having had farther and grandad that were mainline steam drivers most of there lives they have both come across this problem. If you stop with cylinder centered the locomotive will produce little tractive effort it will likely. move off light engine but won't lift the train
@@TugIronChief Scotsmen was centered not hydro locked as you can clearly see driver had cylinder cocks open as he should have done . They were blowing steam as they would if cylinders are clear
Re water consumption, This is not fixed but will depend on how much load/work the engine is doing.
hi, what would happen if you slightly nudged the hand operated rod that rotates the cylindrical valve ? (not completing the full range of motion contrary to when the tappet acts on it), would the timing be off until you move the rod again in either direction through its full range of motion? or could something break? (being torn off for being in the wrong position relative to the tappet)
I have no idea... On what would or would not happen has to come down to what sounds reasonable. Until Richard got the Puffing Devil to move either forwards or backwards, then his plans, drawings, engineering were nothing more than reasoned theory and principals. The engine took months to plan and construct, but was driven and destroyed in just a few hours or less. As I said in the video... Maybe I'm overthinking this.... My cue to you to also.... perhaps... explore the Devil in more detail and its possibilities and perhaps being able to see something which Richard saw in his mind's eye for the very first time - maybe even before any other man, woman or child up to that moment in time. ;)
Enjoyed that Mike, very interesting, watched a video of the one they made as a re-conscruction...hope your keeping well too :)
Well glad you enjoyed it Paul - Yep I'm getting better with each passing week, and now I have the car am getting out more. Hope Yourself & Lowry are fine and in good health too.
My question: There is a smaller wheel next to the main driving wheel which appears to be turned via gear teeth on the main wheel, What does this wheel do/drive.
As I understood it from the drawings - it acted as an additional stabilizer for the main drive wheels - ensuring both wheels worked in unison and revolved at the same speed and rate - removing any torque which would cause the main axel to twist out of shape.
Sounds good, thanks.
Excuse me, can you tell us the source where you get the drawings of the engine?
Would it be safe to say that The Puffing Devil was one of first automobiles?
I thought the same myself ;)
@@MybitofHistory He also made a steam powered bus. Basically mounting one of his engines to a stagecoach. It really is sad that he died penniless, but I guess that it was more economical to use horses.
Where can I get this model diagram I want to build on in Garry's Mod
I was lent a set of Drawings by the Trevithick Society - I no longer have them, but I did produce a scaled diagrammatic poster of the Puffing Devil which was on their website for students to download - I know there is also a copy on Printerest. Hope that helps.
The one dislike must be from James Watt himself
Britain from 1800 to 1900.
20,000 Waterwheels decreased in number.
Windmills decreased in number.
England's Thomas Newcomen's 1,500 Atmospheric Pumps disappeared.
Scotland's James Watt's 500 Steam Engines and their descendants increased in number to 10,000,000 !!!
To every SINGLE Waterwheel in 1800 you could now add 500 Watt type Steam Engines in 1900.
This WAS the Industrial Revolution.
A 500 times increase in Power Output for the whole country in one human lifetime.
Take away James Watt's Steam Power and you get no Industrial Revolution.
Just Newcomen Atmospheric Pumps and Arkwright's Water-Power.
The Scotsman James Watt built the world's first PRACTICAL High Pressure Steam Engine. How come you don't know that!
I can't recall anywhere in the history books / accounts of James Watt ever having the imagination to stick 4 wheels to a steam engine.... I thought you would have nown that ;)
James Watt was too busy INVENTING the Steam Engine!
Watt was long dead and gone before we got a practical Locomotive, so he was proved right.
Because he didn’t. Watt, as is well documented, wanted nothing to do with what he termed ‘strong steam’, or high pressure steam. His huge stationary engines worked somewhere around 10-15 psi, and relied on condensing the steam to create a partial vacuum in order to get useful work done. What he actually invented was the separate condenser, which increased the thermal efficiency of the low-pressure engine that had already been invented, in a crude form, by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, 24 years before Watt was born. Watt died in 1819 at the age of 83, 18 years after Trevithick built Puffing Devil, and 16 years after the first locomotive ran on rails in 1803.
Newcomen's Atmospheric Pumps disappeared when Watt's Steam Pumps appeared and Arkwright's Water-Power disappeared when Watt's Steam Engines appeared.
Newcomen's Pump supplied Atmospheric Power. Watt's Pumps and Engines supplied Steam Power.
Atmospheric Pressure opposes a Steam Engine.
Watt's separate condenser on his new engines recycled hot water and eliminated 14.7 psi of opposition from Atmospheric Pressure, with the vacuum created by condensation.
Not quite.. Newcomer’s engine also relied on condensing the steam to create a vacuum beneath the piston, which means that the atmospheric pressure becomes the main motive force, and the same is true for Watt’s engines. The main difference between the two is that Newcomen injected cold water directly into the cylinder to achieve this, and as a result the entire mass of the piston and cylinder needed to cool to the point of condensation, meaning that the next cycle had to waste a tremendous amount heat energy from the incoming steam to re-heat the cylinder before condensation would cease and the upward stroke could commence. This gave the Newcomen engine a phenomenally low fuel efficiency, or ‘duty’ as it was termed at the time. By creating a separate condenser that could be kept at an even temperature at all times, Watt effectively eliminated this cyclical waste of energy, as the cylinder and piston could be kept hot throughout the cycle, thus achieving a significant increase in efficiency.
Although many new engines were built at the Soho foundry, Watt’s business model was nonetheless heavily dependent on the fitting of this separate condenser to a large number of existing Newcomen engines, and profiting by taking a share for themselves every year of the savings that were gained from this increased fuel efficiency, a policy that became increasingly unpopular in Cornwall. However, these were still low pressure engines, and still wildly inefficient when compared to the compact high pressure direct-acting engines of Trevithick, operating at 50lb to the square inch, a fact that was proved when a Soho built engine was trialled head to head with a Trevithick ‘puffer’ to see which did the greater amount of work for a given consumption of coal, and lost quite unequivocally.
Watt undoubtedly contributed a great deal to the development of the steam engine and the understanding of its thermodynamic performance, and deserves to be recognised as such, but ultimately he is part of a much wider and more complex narrative, which still seems to be blurred by his somewhat litigious nature and an unfortunate tendency to engineer his own legacy.