Thomas newcomen steam engine

Dartmouth, England; christened 24 February ; d. London, England, 5 August , steam technology. Newcomen is renowned as the inventor of the steam engine. He was descended from an aristocratic family that had lost its property during the reign of Henry VIII. His grandfather and father were merchants and nonconformists, and Newcomen followed them in both respects.

Newcomen became a leader of the local Baptists and often preached to their congregations. His formal education appears to have been rudimentary, and he published nothing. Few details are known of his personal life or of the circumstances that surrounded his invention.

What was thomas newcomen steam engine used for

The increasingly troublesome problem of removing water from mines had already provided the stimulus for attempts by Newcomen and others to design an improved machine to serve either as a pump or as an engine to drive a pump. The key invention, which was the injection of cold water directly into the cylinder, was hit upon accidentally in the course of experiments that used cold water jackets to produce condensation.

Later James Watt significantly increased the efficiency of the engine through his invention of the separate condenser , which avoided the necessity of alternately heating and cooling the cylinder.