Because the device required control of internal pressure-technically, Savery's invention was an atmospheric engine rather than a true steam engine-it was vital that all of the pipes be tightly sealed. There were some technical problems with the Miners' Friends, not least of which was the poor quality of metal fittings at the time. His engines became known as Miners' Friends, although it is unclear whether any of them found actual use in coal mines. Savery was granted a patent for the device in 1698.įour years later he published a treatise describing his invention, The Miners Friend Or, An Engine to Raise Water by Fire.
The sudden cooling of the vessel quickly condensed the steam, creating a vacuum that resulted in a change in atmospheric pressure within the suction tube, forcing water up its length. Once the receiving vessel was filled with steam, it was sprayed with cold water. Savery's device involved heating water in a boiler the boiling water produced steam, which was routed through pipes to a receptacle, which was in turn connected to a suction pipe that extended down into the water to be raised. Inventor and merchant Thomas Savery, of Devonshire, England, aware of experiments with steam and pressure, turned his technical abilities to the creation of a mechanical device for using those properties to raise water.
Hand-pumping, however, was slow and ultimately ineffectual against the volume of water in the mineshafts. Some attempts were made to remove the water by using hand-pumps to create vacuums in tubes: the water would then be sucked up the vacuum. Unfortunately, the mining of coal created its own set of problems, primarily the tendency of water to seep into the lowest reaches of coal mines, making it difficult if not impossible to extract the coal.
To solve the problem, England turned to its rich deposits of coal. What wood remained was more valuable as lumber than fuel. Harsh winters and a growing population had resulted in the depletion of many of England's great forests, as trees were cut down and burned. Backgroundīy the late 1600s England had a fuel problem. While any number of other inventions and devices played major parts in the march toward industrialization, it was the steam engine above all that established the place and importance of the machine in the modern world, and made possible the creation of the large factories that were among the most significant undertakings of industrial civilization.
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Savery's 1698 patent of his steam engine-designed to help remove water that seeped into the bottom of coal mines-laid the foundation for a series of refinements and re-designs by Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729) and, most notably, James Watt (1736-1819) that resulted in the transformation not only of work, but also of the entire society for whose support that work was done. The invention of the steam engine in 1698 by Thomas Savery (1650?-1715) was among the most important steps toward the modern industrial age, in which machine power replaced human or animal muscle-power. The Steam Engine Powers the Industrial Revolution Overview
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