Birth of Mechanical Engineering and a Glimpse …
11
Fig. 10 Newcomen engine erected by John Smeaton in 1772 for Long Benton colliery
whole steam in the main cylinder flows to the condenser because of the vacuum
created there and the main cylinder is not cooled down. In the original scheme of
Newcomen engine after each cycle, it was necessary to heat up the cylinder before
the steam could be collected there as the cylinder cooled while condensing the accumulated steam. Figure 11 shows the first experimental setup of Watt’s condenser.
It looks so insignificant a device but one must not forget that this helped the world
we see today possible. The study of the phenomenon of condensation of steam and
associated issues brought the subject ‘thermodynamics’ and ‘heat transfer’ into the
realm of ‘mechanical engineering’.
In 1769, he took a patent of an engine of his design in which the cylinder was
surrounded by a steam jacket and condensation took place in a separate condenser.
His financier was Dr. Roebuck and later Boulton. But they have been struggling for
almost a decade without success. The reason was the lack in accuracy of cylinder
boring keeping enough gap between the cylinder and the piston for the atmospheric air
to pass through instead of moving the piston. In case of Newcomen engine, a leather
11
Fig. 10 Newcomen engine erected by John Smeaton in 1772 for Long Benton colliery
whole steam in the main cylinder flows to the condenser because of the vacuum
created there and the main cylinder is not cooled down. In the original scheme of
Newcomen engine after each cycle, it was necessary to heat up the cylinder before
the steam could be collected there as the cylinder cooled while condensing the accumulated steam. Figure 11 shows the first experimental setup of Watt’s condenser.
It looks so insignificant a device but one must not forget that this helped the world
we see today possible. The study of the phenomenon of condensation of steam and
associated issues brought the subject ‘thermodynamics’ and ‘heat transfer’ into the
realm of ‘mechanical engineering’.
In 1769, he took a patent of an engine of his design in which the cylinder was
surrounded by a steam jacket and condensation took place in a separate condenser.
His financier was Dr. Roebuck and later Boulton. But they have been struggling for
almost a decade without success. The reason was the lack in accuracy of cylinder
boring keeping enough gap between the cylinder and the piston for the atmospheric air
to pass through instead of moving the piston. In case of Newcomen engine, a leather