The early Watt steam engine was one of the driving forces of the Industrial Revolution. James Watt developed the design sporadically from 1763 to 1775 with support from Matthew Boulton. Watt's design saved so much more fuel compared with earlier designs that they were licensed based on the amount of fuel they would save. Watt never ceased developing the steam engine and his designs became synonymous with steam engines, and it was many years before significantly new designs began to replace the basic Watt design.

The early Watt steam engine was one of the driving forces of the Industrial Revolution. James Watt developed the design sporadically from 1763 to 1775 with support from Matthew Boulton. Watt's design saved so much more fuel compared with earlier designs that they were licensed based on the amount of fuel they would save. Watt never ceased developing the steam engine and his designs became synonymous with steam engines, and it was many years before significantly new designs began to replace the basic Watt design. Stock Photo

RMID:2FBE2FK

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De Luan / Alamy Stock Photo

Image ID:

2FBE2FK

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40.7 MB (3 MB Compressed download)

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Dimensions:

4530 x 3144 px | 38.4 x 26.6 cm | 15.1 x 10.5 inches | 300dpi

Date taken:

17 April 2021

Location:

England

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RM2HBEJ1P–An old engraving of the Watt double-action steam engine of the mid-1700s. It is from a Victorian book of the 1890s on discoveries and inventions during the era. Alternatively known as the Boulton and Watt steam engine, it was an early steam engine, a vast improvement on the Thomas Newcomen 1712 design, and was one of the driving forces of the Industrial Revolution. James Watt developed the design from 1763 to 1775 with support from Matthew Boulton. In 1765 Watt had the idea of equipping the engine with a separate condensation chamber, which he called a ‘condenser’ (here bottom right).

RM2DRN9HB–An old engraving of men operating winding gear at a mine being powered by a steam locomotive in the 1800s. It is from a Victorian book of the 1880s. This illustration is unusual as most winding engines were stationary ones. A tub is lifted from a mine shaft and a coal pile is seen right. Winding gear was used to control a cable or rope, usually to power a mining hoist at a pit head. Early winding engines were hand or horse powered. The demand for winding engines was one reason that led James Watt to develop his rotative beam engine, which turned a winding drum, could stop often and reverse.

RF2RAPN9H–Matthew Boulton (3 September 1728 - 18 August 1809) was an English engineer, medallist and entrepreneur of the early Industrial Revolution, Historic, digitally restored reproduction from an original of the period / Matthew Boulton (3. September 1728 bis 18. August 1809) war ein englischer Ingenieur, Medailleur und Unternehmer der frühen Industriellen Revolution, Historisch, digital restaurierte Reproduktion von einer Vorlage aus der damaligen Zeit

RM2D8M6WD–An old engraving of a John Smeaton Cornish boiler used in mining in the 1800s. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. The simplest form of flued boiler was Richard Trevithick's ‘high-pressure’ Cornish boiler. This is a long horizontal cylinder with a single large flue containing the fire. Cornish boilers had curved surfaces, better to resist the pressure and less likelihood of local overheating. John Smeaton (1724 –1792) was an English civil engineer. He also improved Thomas Newcomen's atmospheric engine, erecting one at Chacewater mine, Wheal Busy, Cornwall, England,

RM2DAHP3T–An old engraving of a double-acting steam engine. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. A double acting engine is a reciprocating engine where steam is applied to both sides of the piston. Earlier steam engines applied steam in only one direction, needing momentum or gravity to return the piston to its starting place, but a double-acting engine uses steam to force the piston (here left) in both directions, increasing rotational speed and power. Almost all marine engines were of the double acting type. It was invented by Scottish engineer James Watt (1736 –1819).