Modern Steam Engines

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Excerpt from Steam Engines: A Thorough and Practical Presentation of Modern Steam Engine Practice The modern steam engine, whether it be the majestic Corliss, which so silently operates the massive electric generators in one of our municipal power plants, or the giant locomotive which pulls the Limited at sixty miles an hour, commands our unstinted admiration. And yet every movement is so free and perfect in its action, every function is performed with such precision and regularity, that we lose sight of the wonderful theoretical and mechanical development which was necessary to bring these machines to their present state of perfection. The genius of Watt, the "father" of the steam engine, was so great that his basic conception of this, his greatest invention, and of many of his minor discoveries in connection with it, remain almost as he gave them to the world over a century ago. Yet he was so far in advance of the mechanical development of his time that his workmen could not build engine cylinders nearer true than three-eighths of an inch. Modern builders demand an accuracy of at least two-thousandths of an inch - almost two hundred times greater. But mechanical skill is not the only particular in which progress had been made. Many minor but important improvements have been brought about by a careful study of the theory of heat engines. The reduction of enormous heat losses, the use of superheated steam, the idea of compound expansion, the development of the Stephenson, Walschaert, and other valve gears - all have contributed towards making the steam engine well-nigh mechanically perfect and as efficient as is inherently possible. The story has been developed from a historical standpoint and along sound theoretical and practical lines. It will be found absorbingly interesting and instructive to the stationary engineer as well as to all who wish to follow modern steam engineering development. The material is particularly adapted to home study. If, therefore, the book should prove of real value in stimulating the interest of the trained man or the layman in the technical developments of the day, the publishers will feel that its mission has been accomplished. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This is the first comprehensive history of the steam engine in fifty years. It follows the development of reciprocating steam engines, from their earliest forms to the beginning of the twentieth century when they were replaced by steam turbines.