Boulton & Watt engine | Wikipedia audio article
Channel: wikipedia tts
Date: 2019-07-07

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt_steam_engine


00:03:36 1 Introduction
00:06:38 2 Separate condenser
00:10:17 3 The Partnership of Matthew Boulton and James Watt
00:13:01 4 Later improvements
00:16:40 5 Preserved Watt engines
00:18:42 6 Watt engine produced by Hathorn, Davey and Co
00:19:20 7 Recent developments
00:21:43 8 See also



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SUMMARY
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The Watt steam engine, alternatively known as the Boulton and Watt steam engine, was the first practical steam engine and 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 significantly more fuel compared to earlier designs that they were licensed based on the amount of fuel they would save. Watt never ceased developing the steam engine, introducing double-acting designs (with two cylinders) and various systems for taking off rotary power. Watt's design became synonymous with steam engines, and it was many years before significantly new designs began to replace the basic Watt design.
The first steam engines, introduced by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, were of the "atmospheric" design. Steam was introduced into a cylinder which was then cooled by a spray of water. This caused the steam to condense, forming a partial vacuum in the cylinder. Atmospheric pressure on the top pushed the piston down. Watt noticed that the water spray also cooled the cylinder itself, and it required significant amounts of heat to warm it back up to the point where steam could enter the cylinder without immediately condensing again. Watt addressed this by adding a separate water-filled cylinder which was opened once the main cylinder was filled. The steam entered the secondary cylinder and condensed, drawing remaining steam from the main cylinder to continue the process. The end result was the same cycle as Newcomen's design, but without any cooling of the main cylinder which was immediately ready for another stroke. Watt worked on the design over a period of several years, introducing the condenser and improvements to practically every part of the design, notably a lengthy series of trials on ways to seal the piston in the cylinder. All of these changes produced a more reliable design which used half as much coal to produce the same amount of power.The new design was introduced commercially in 1776, with the first example sold to the Carron Company ironworks. Watt continued working to improve the engine, and in 1781 introduced a system using a sun and planet gear to turn the linear motion of the engines into rotary motion. This made it useful not only in the original pumping role, but also as a direct replacement in roles where a water wheel would have been used previously. This was a key moment in the industrial revolution, since power sources could now be located anywhere instead of, as previously, needing a suitable water source and topography. Boulton began developing a multitude of machines that made use of this rotary power, developing the first modern industrialized factory, the Soho Foundry, which in turn produced new steam engine designs. Watt's early engines were like the original Newcomen designs in that they used low-pressure steam and most of the action was caused by atmospheric pressure, due mostly to safety concerns. Looking to improve on their performance, Watt began considering the use of higher-pressure steam, as well as designs using multiple cylinders in both the double-acting concept and the multiple-expansion concept. These double-acting engines required the invention of the parallel motion, which allowed the piston rods of the individual cylinders to move in straight lines, keeping the piston true in the cylinder, while the walking beam end moved through an arc, somewha ...