For the railway engine, see steam locomotive. For the steam turbine, see steam turbine.
"Steam machine" and "Steam-powered" redirect here. For the video game distribution service, see Steam (service). For other uses, see Steam machine (disambiguation).
History of technology
By technological eras
Premodern
Prehistoric
Stone Age (lithic)
Neolithic Revolution
Copper Age
Bronze Age
Iron Age
Ancient
Modern
Proto-industrialization
First Industrial Revolution
Standardization
Second Industrial Revolution
Machine Age
Atomic Age
Jet Age
Space Age
Third Industrial Revolution
Digital transformation
Information Age
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Imagination Age
AI era
Future
Emerging technologies
By historical regions
Ancient Africa
Ancient Egypt
Indian subcontinent
Ancient China
Maya civilization
Hellenistic world
Roman Empire
Byzantine Empire
Medieval Islamic world
Arab Agricultural Revolution
Medieval Europe
Renaissance Europe
By type of technology
History of agriculture
History of biotechnology
History of communication
History of computer hardware
History of electrical engineering
History of manufacturing
History of materials science
History of measurement
History of medicine
History of nuclear technology
History of transport
Technology timelines
Timeline of historic inventions
Complete list by category
Article indices
Outline of technology
Outline of prehistoric technology
v
t
e
A model of a beam engine featuring James Watt's parallel linkage for double action[a]A mill engine from Stott Park Bobbin Mill, Cumbria, EnglandA steam locomotive from East Germany. This class of engine was built in 1942–1950 and operated until 1988.A steam ploughing engine by Kemna
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transformed, by a connecting rod and crank, into rotational force for work. The term "steam engine" is most commonly applied to reciprocating engines as just described, although some authorities have also referred to the steam turbine and devices such as Hero's aeolipile as "steam engines". The essential feature of steam engines is that they are external combustion engines,[1] where the working fluid is separated from the combustion products. The ideal thermodynamic cycle used to analyze this process is called the Rankine cycle. In general usage, the term steam engine can refer to either complete steam plants (including boilers etc.), such as railway steam locomotives and portable engines, or may refer to the piston or turbine machinery alone, as in the beam engine and stationary steam engine.
As noted, steam-driven devices such as the aeolipile were known in the first century AD, and there were a few other uses recorded in the 16th century. In 1606 Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont patented his invention of the first steam-powered water pump for draining mines.[2] Thomas Savery is considered the inventor of the first commercially used steam powered device, a steam pump that used steam pressure operating directly on the water. The first commercially successful engine that could transmit continuous power to a machine was developed in 1712 by Thomas Newcomen. James Watt made a critical improvement in 1764, by removing spent steam to a separate vessel for condensation, greatly improving the amount of work obtained per unit of fuel consumed. By the 19th century, stationary steam engines powered the factories of the Industrial Revolution. Steam engines replaced sails for ships on paddle steamers, and steam locomotives operated on the railways.
Reciprocating piston type steam engines were the dominant source of power until the early 20th century. The efficiency of stationary steam engine increased dramatically until about 1922.[3] The highest Rankine Cycle Efficiency of 91% and combined thermal efficiency of 31% was demonstrated and published in 1921 and 1928.[4] Advances in the design of electric motors and internal combustion engines resulted in the gradual replacement of steam engines in commercial usage. Steam turbines replaced reciprocating engines in power generation, due to lower cost, higher operating speed, and higher efficiency.[5] Note that small scale steam turbines are much less efficient than large ones.[6]
As of 2023[update], large reciprocating piston steam engines are still being manufactured in Germany.[7]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000.
^"Who Invented the Steam Engine?". Live Science. 19 March 2014.
^Mierisch, Robert Charles (May 2018). "The History and Future of High Efficiency Steam Engines" (PDF). EHA Magazine. 2 (8): 24–25 – via engineersaustralia.org.au.
^Gebhardt, G.F. (1928). Steam Power Plant Engineering (6th ed.). USA: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. p. 405.
^Cite error: The named reference Wiser was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Green, Don (1997). Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook (7th ed.). USA: McGraw-Hill. pp. 29–24. ISBN 0-07-049841-5.
^"Spilling Products". www.spilling.de. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
A steamengine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steamengine uses the force produced by steam pressure...
The first recorded rudimentary steamengine was the aeolipile mentioned by Vitruvius between 30 and 15 BC and, described by Heron of Alexandria in 1st-century...
compound steamengine unit is a type of steamengine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that...
The Watt steamengine design became synonymous with steamengines, and it was many years before significantly new designs began to replace the basic Watt...
Stationary steamengines are fixed steamengines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive...
engine (see below) or simply as a Newcomen engine. The engine was operated by condensing steam drawn into the cylinder, thereby creating a partial vacuum...
A traction engine is a steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives...
combustion engine, used extensively in motor vehicles; the steamengine, the mainstay of the Industrial Revolution; and the Stirling engine for niche applications...
A Corliss steamengine (or Corliss engine) is a steamengine, fitted with rotary valves and with variable valve timing patented in 1849, invented by and...
The uniflow type of steamengine uses steam that flows in one direction only in each half of the cylinder. Thermal efficiency is increased by having a...
A steam car is a car (automobile) propelled by a steamengine. A steamengine is an external combustion engine (ECE), whereas the gasoline and diesel engines...
as engines—the steamengine being a notable example. However, the original steamengines, such as those by Thomas Savery, were not mechanical engines but...
double-acting cylinder which injected steam at each end of the piston stroke to move the piston back and forth. The rotary steamengine simplified the mechanism required...
cable-hoisting winch shovels. Many steam shovels remained at work on the railways of developing nations until diesel engines supplanted them. Most have since...
Improvements to the steamengine were some of the most important technologies of the Industrial Revolution, although steam did not replace water power...
by steamengines such as reciprocating piston type engines and steam turbines, which are a sub-group of steamengines. Piston type steamengines played...
volume increases 1,700 times. Functionally, it is a steamengine on wheels. In most locomotives, the steam is admitted alternately to each end of its cylinders...
century, to useful pumps for mining in 1700, and then to Watt's improved steamengine designs in the late 18th century. It is these later designs, introduced...
and efficiency of steam turbines remains central to the energy economics of the 21st century. The steam turbine is a form of heat engine that derives much...
Heron's) engine, is a simple, bladeless radial steam turbine which spins when the central water container is heated. Torque is produced by steam jets exiting...
marine steamengine, introduced in the early 19th century. During the 20th century it was replaced by two-stroke or four-stroke diesel engines, outboard...
describing the process by which certain heat engines, such as steam turbines or reciprocating steamengines, allow mechanical work to be extracted from...
Cornish engine is a type of steamengine developed in Cornwall, England, mainly for pumping water from a mine. It is a form of beam engine that uses steam at...
A steam donkey or donkey engine is a steam-powered winch once widely used in logging, mining, maritime, and other industrial applications. Steam powered...
Global Information
