All About Steam Engines

This paper presents a discussion of the steam engine. A history of the steam engine, how a steam engine functions, thermodynamics principles that make up the steam engine, a comparison of steam engine efficiency to the efficiency of the Carnot engine, and modern applications of the steam engine such as the steam turbine. This is followed by summary and conclusions.

The history of the steam engine and its development appears to be somewhat controversial. For example, Valenti (1996) reported that the British Royal Society to include Isaac Newton prevented the industrial and naval applications of steam power for 100 years. The Royal Society buried Denis Papin's 1690 invention of the paddle-wheel steamship that was developed with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Valenti stated further that the Royal Society stole this work and crated a mythical story about how Newcomen invented the steam engine to raise water from coalmines.

Valenti (1996) stated that by 1680, Papin had made a breakthrough toward understanding and controlling highly compressed steam in a steam pressure cooker. This cooker had a cylinder with thick walls, which enclosed the water with the bones and meat. The cooker was placed on a fire to cook. The goal of this discovery was to relieve poverty and provide people with wholesome foods. By 1687, Papin presented a new invention that transmitted power pneumatically to spread ind

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Vessel Code was established (Petroski 20). Legal Regulation of Steam Engines Varrasi (2005) reported further on the ASME stating that during the first decade of ASME and by 1890s there were 100,000 boilers being used in the U.S. and of these, more than 2,000 exploded. The boilers were becoming large and complex and steam pressure rating for a prime mover in 1890 was set at 80 psi, which was higher than the 30 psi found in the 1850s. In 1905, a boiler exploded in a shoe factory and killed 58 people. This resulted in property damage of $250,000. Public outcry resulted in local government officials acting. Despite government reluctance to regulate industry, standards were developed. Boiler Code Rules were established. Today, there are 3,400 active volunteers who work on committees to issue over 600 standards that detail dimensions of manufactured objects to include pressure vessels (Varrasi 48). The Steam Engine and the Industrial Revolution The steam engine was an important contributor to the growth in industry; it is an icon of the Industrial Revolution (Rosenberg, Nathan and Manuel Trajtenberg 61). The steam engine has been used for many purposes that range from the pumping of water out of mines, to the drivi

Category: Science - A