The Steam Engine Familiarly Explained and Illustrated: With an historical sketch of its invention and progressive improvement; its applications to navigation and railways; with plain axioms for railway speculators — John Shaqi
The Steam Engine Familiarly Explained and Illustrated: With an historical sketch of its invention and progressive improvement; its applications to navigation and railways; with plain axioms for railway speculatorsLardner, Dionysius
History
The Steam Engine Familiarly Explained and Illustrated: With an historical sketch of its invention and progressive improvement; its applications to navigation and railways; with plain axioms for railway speculators
Lardner, Dionysius
Steam-engines -- Early works to 1850
During this process, two alternate motions or adjustments must be
constantly made; the communication between T and the boiler must be
opened, and that between T´ and the boiler closed, which is done by
one motion of the regulator. The condensing pipe at the same time must
be brought from V to play on V´ which is done by the lever placed upon
it. Again the communication between T´ and the boiler is to be opened,
and that between T and the boiler closed; this is done by moving back
the regulator. The condensing pipe is brought from V´ to V by moving
back the other lever, and so on alternately.
For the clearness and convenience of description, some slight and
otherwise unimportant changes have been made in the position of the
parts.[10] A perspective view of this engine is presented in fig. 9.
The different parts already described will easily be recognised, being
marked with the same letters as in figs. 6, 7.
[Footnote 10: In the diagrams used for explaining the principles and
operations of machines, I have found it contribute much to the
clearness of the description to adopt an arrangement of parts somewhat
different from that of the real machine. When once the nature and
principles on which the machine acts are well understood, the reader
will find no difficulty in transferring every part to its proper
place, which is represented in the perspective drawings.]
(33.) In order duly to appreciate the value of improvements, it is
necessary first to perceive the defects which these improvements are
designed to remove. Savery's steam engine, considering how little was
known of the value and properties of steam, and how low the general
standard of mechanical knowledge was in his day, is certainly highly
creditable to his genius. Nevertheless it had very considerable
defects, and was finally found to be inefficient for the most
important purposes to which he proposed applying it.
At the time of this invention, the mines in England had greatly
increased in depth, and the process of draining them had become both
expensive and difficult; so much so, that it was found in many
instances that their produce did not cover the cost of working them.
The drainage of these mines was the most important purpose to which
Savery proposed to apply his steam engine.
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