Modern Technology Encyclopedia

Author: Wang Zhende
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The development of the metallurgical industry and the use of steam engines allowed Britain's abundant coal and iron ore deposits to demonstrate their immense value. Coal and steel industries became the pillars of modern British industry. In the technological development of metallurgy, ironworkers Darby invented the coking iron method in 1780. Starting from 1790, many ironworks successively adopted steam engines to power larger blowers, providing more wind for blast furnaces. The new fuel combined with new power sources led to ever-increasing coal production. In 1788, Britain's pig iron output was 61,300 tons, but after steam engines were adopted in various ironworks, Britain's pig iron output surged to 125,000 tons by 1796. The use of steam engines allowed Britain's abundant coal and iron ore deposits to demonstrate their immense value. Coal and steel industries became the pillars of modern British industry.
Steam Pumping Machine In 1698, British army engineer Thomas Savery invented the steam pump, known as the "Friend of the Mine," but this machine was clumsy and slow, with low output power. In 1711, Newcomen established his own steam engine production company. The pumping work done by one Newcomen steam engine was equivalent to the combined effort of 50 horses, but the cost was only one-sixth of that of the latter. As a result, Newcomen steam engines were used for over half a century, with hundreds of British mines adopting this pump. In some areas, it was even used to supply cities with water. Although the steam pump brought convenience, it still had many problems. During Newcomen's time, there were no facilities for precision machining of machine parts, so there was a significant gap between the piston and the cylinder. Only by covering the water could the machine achieve the required airtightness. The method of using cold water to cool the cylinder and condense the steam also failed to achieve the ideal complete vacuum. In particular, this method of using steam condensation to create a vacuum in the cylinder wasted a large amount of energy that could have been converted into kinetic energy, instead being lost in the condensation process.
Drag Machines With the development of the coal mining industry, manual carrying could no longer meet the demand for transporting large quantities of raw materials. In 1820, Britain began using drag machines to replace manual carrying, greatly improving the speed of raw material transportation and rapidly increasing coal production. By 1835, Britain's coal output had reached 300 million tons, becoming Europe's largest coal-producing country.