Newcomen Watt Steam Engines

Animated - A brief look at the Newcomen and the Boulton & Watt steam engines of the 18th & 19th century.

Produced by: Michael De Greasley

[jxvolker]

This is really good and I am going to show my class.

[remote_photography_services_CO]

Excellent-I finally fully understand how these work. Thank-you for making this.

[kennethfuller]

Very well done---this is the only video Ive seen which provides a clear animation of the valve action on these engines.

[baddoggie]

The condensing tank was probably much larger or would need a flow of cold water into it. I'm not sure if this depicts an atmospheric engine or an overpressure engine. The introduction of pressurized steam was the next step. Watt understood that the metallurgy of the day would not safely allow high pressures, but others pushed the limit, resulting in boiler explosions.

[vauxhall]

That was very interesting, and mind boggling in how you make such detailed models come alive. :-)

[nodrogawson]

Outstanding graphics and explanation making it very easy to understand,
Thank you for sharing, very interesting.

[topperism]

Great videos and graphics. Looking forward to more !

[AquaponicDave]

Hello Michael,
Excellent work on the engine models! I am designing modern Newcomen engines, they will make a comeback for a number of reasons. The steam required to power the engine is VERY small, all it does is displace air at atmospheric pressure. Condensing that amount of steam is easier. The atmospheric pressure seems small but it is additive so larger pistons deliver more power. I have invented a material that can handle the pressures and temperatures of a Newcomen engine, and the cost is so low that the cost of very large engines will be quite reasonable. By operating at low pressure the engine is much safer than conventional steam. I also find the idea if the old engines far more romantic than modern ones. They could be built by laymen like you and I, and they can be used to pump water just as the originals. The energy to power them can be solar or biomass, and the energy produced can be carbon negative (by using wood gas pyrolization)
I will look at your other videos, thank you for posting them.

[janspale]

Really great and helpful video with awesome animations and graphics !

[sirrliv]

A very interesting set of animations that illustrate these innovations very well. I'm currently studying the early industrial revolution in preparation for a Study Abroad course that will take me throughout Britain's industrial history. As much as I've studies of this subject, I've never had a clear vision of how exactly a Newcomen Atmospheric Engine worked, and had no knowledge at all of the function of Watt's separate condenser. This has proven very interesting.

If I may point out one minor flaw in your animation: Your animation of the Watt engine features the engine gaining steam from a cylindrical boiler. Such boilers were not invented until 1801 by Richard Trevithick. Originally, Watt's engines would have used a Newcomen-style kettle boiler. Initially, Watt was resistant to Trevithick's ideas of using higher pressures to generate more power because these kettle boilers, made of a patchwork of iron, could not contain more than about 10 psi. Trevithick's cylindrical boilers distributed the pressure evenly around the whole internal surface and were safe up to 30 psi or more.

[MybitofHistory]

@Tom Thompson....  Glad you enjoyed the video :)  I take your point about the plug tree colour when the video is viewed at 360p and at YouTube's default size.  However, when viewed at 720p HD or 1080p HD and in Full Screen Mode then I believe the result are as those I intended to create for the video to be clearly viewed on most of the current large TV screens.  But thanks for your input and enable me to make these points here in the comments :)

[BrettfromBako]

super helpful for students...thank you!

[tomthompson]

plug valve could do with being a brighter color in the atmospheric engine, , wee bit easier to see it then, other than that a first class job, makes a lot of things very easy to understand, ,, well done indeed.

[magicianmana]

thank you! you just helped me with my project!

[kelleytrezise]

A beautiful model. I wonder if there was an intermediate step between the pure Newcomen and Watt engine that came from running the boiler at a pressure greater than one atmosphere absolute. If the boiler ran a two atmospheres, for example it would have pushed the piston upward providing a power stroke on that stroke followed by a power stroke on the condensation stroke. That of course would have required a sturdy boiler.

I am thinking of building a Newcomen engine using pvc or cpvc piping. I could possibly use drain pipe as it is thicker walled and would not breath in as the pressure in the cylinder drops.

[MybitofHistory]

@Robert  The software is Autodesk 3Ds Max 2012 which I use to create these CGI models.

[hadeelalkuwari]

thank you that really a helped me a lot, thank again !

[KeithOtisEdwards]

I'm now reading "The Most Powerful Idea in the World, " a history and analysis of the Industrial Revolution. It's a fine book, but it lacks illustrations. This animation gives me a clearer idea of how the engine worked. 

Your animation is marvelous. May I ask what app you used to create it?

[mirror]

This was well done. The "plug man" profession can't have lasted very long can it?

[robert_s]

could you pleas send me URL from wehre did you download thath CGI simulator