Steam is the name given to water when it is in an invisible gas form.
We think we see 'steam' as a cloud of translucent mist, such as when boiling a kettle, but that is only the result of the steam condensing in the air, forming water vapor. Actual hot steam is invisible.
Steam is formed when water boils. When the pressure of the atmosphere is 1013 mbar, water will boil at sea level (thus turning into steam) at 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit). This is the boiling point.
At lower pressures, such as in the upper atmosphere or at the top of high mountains, water boils at a lower temperature than the nominal 100 °C (212 °F).
Steam is widely used in industrial processes and for the generation of power.
A major use of steam is to power steam engines, which is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.
Inventor Thomas Newcomen's original piston steam engine, which he invented in 1712, was used for pumping water out of mines.
In 1781 James Watt patented a steam engine, which incorporated a series of radical improvements, notably the closing off of the upper part of the cylinder, thereby making the low-pressure steam drive the top of the piston instead of the atmosphere. Watt's ten-horsepower engines enabled a wide range of manufacturing machinery to be powered.
Piston type steam engines played a central role to the Industrial Revolution between 1760 and 1840.
In 1801 the British inventor Richard Trevithick successfully tested a steam car, known as the Puffing Devil. Trevithick became the first person to power a piston using high-pressure steam – and in doing so he transformed the world.
The first steam-powered ship Pyroscaphe was a paddle steamer powered by a Newcomen steam engine. It was built in France in 1783 by Marquis Claude de Jouffroy.
New Orleans, the first steamship on the Mississippi River, arrived in its namesake city, to complete its maiden voyage in January 1812.
Charles Babbage's original designs for his mechanical computer were to be steam-powered.
French aviation pioneer Gustave de Ponton d'Amecourt built a steam-driven model helicopter in 1863. He also coined the word 'helicopter'.
In 1864, the speed limit for a steam-driven car in the UK was 2mph.
The first motorcycles were steam-powered velocipedes made in France in 1867.
Modern steam turbines are used to generate more than 80% of the world's electricity.
New York City uses steam as it's main source of heating and has the largest steam network in the world. The steam system was built in the 1800's to reduce the amount of wood that was being burned as a heat source in the cold winter months.
We think we see 'steam' as a cloud of translucent mist, such as when boiling a kettle, but that is only the result of the steam condensing in the air, forming water vapor. Actual hot steam is invisible.
Steam is formed when water boils. When the pressure of the atmosphere is 1013 mbar, water will boil at sea level (thus turning into steam) at 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit). This is the boiling point.
At lower pressures, such as in the upper atmosphere or at the top of high mountains, water boils at a lower temperature than the nominal 100 °C (212 °F).
Steam is widely used in industrial processes and for the generation of power.
 |
| Steam condsensing in the air by Brocken Inaglory |
A major use of steam is to power steam engines, which is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.
Inventor Thomas Newcomen's original piston steam engine, which he invented in 1712, was used for pumping water out of mines.
In 1781 James Watt patented a steam engine, which incorporated a series of radical improvements, notably the closing off of the upper part of the cylinder, thereby making the low-pressure steam drive the top of the piston instead of the atmosphere. Watt's ten-horsepower engines enabled a wide range of manufacturing machinery to be powered.
 |
| A Watt steam engine. By Nicolás Pérez, |
Piston type steam engines played a central role to the Industrial Revolution between 1760 and 1840.
In 1801 the British inventor Richard Trevithick successfully tested a steam car, known as the Puffing Devil. Trevithick became the first person to power a piston using high-pressure steam – and in doing so he transformed the world.
The first steam-powered ship Pyroscaphe was a paddle steamer powered by a Newcomen steam engine. It was built in France in 1783 by Marquis Claude de Jouffroy.
 |
| Model of steamship, built in 1784, by Claude de Jouffroy. By World Imaging |
New Orleans, the first steamship on the Mississippi River, arrived in its namesake city, to complete its maiden voyage in January 1812.
Charles Babbage's original designs for his mechanical computer were to be steam-powered.
French aviation pioneer Gustave de Ponton d'Amecourt built a steam-driven model helicopter in 1863. He also coined the word 'helicopter'.
In 1864, the speed limit for a steam-driven car in the UK was 2mph.
The first motorcycles were steam-powered velocipedes made in France in 1867.
Modern steam turbines are used to generate more than 80% of the world's electricity.
No comments:
Post a Comment