What scientific principle motivated Thomas Savery's 1698 'fire engine' patent for raising mine water?
Answer
Creating a vacuum by allowing condensed steam to collapse within a vessel
Thomas Savery's design, patented in 1698, operated entirely on the principle of vacuum creation rather than using steam pressure directly to push water out. In his mechanism, steam would first fill a closed vessel. Subsequently, cold water would be introduced, causing the steam inside to rapidly condense back into a liquid state. This condensation dramatically reduced the pressure inside the vessel, creating a partial vacuum. Consequently, the superior atmospheric pressure acting on the surface of the external water source would force the water up the suction pipe and into this void within the vessel. This process required only hand-operated taps to manage the cycles.
Related Questions
What was the relentless problem plaguing British extraction industries in the early 18th century?What scientific principle motivated Thomas Savery's 1698 'fire engine' patent for raising mine water?What engineering constraint severely limited the lift height achieved by Savery's fire engine?What crucial mechanical concept, previously associated with Denis Papin, did Newcomen incorporate into his atmospheric engine?What was the mechanical source of power that drove the piston down during the working stroke of Newcomen's engine?What structural element allowed the Newcomen engine to separate the steam cylinder location from the mine pump operation?What key feature allowed Newcomen's system to run continuously without constant manual intervention for valve control?How did better iron casting techniques, pioneered by the Coalbrookdale Company, benefit the Newcomen engine?What specific operational feature resulted in the marked fuel inefficiency of the Newcomen atmospheric engine?What economic factor allowed the Newcomen engine to be widely adopted in coal mines despite its high fuel consumption?