OUR DEBT TO WATT

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 6, 9 January 1928, Page 4

OUR DEBT TO WATT

THE STORY OF STEAM "INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION" POWER AND STEEL Great as has been the progress of engineering and its allied branches of industry in the present generation and those which immediately preceded it, we still speak of the age of Watt as the industrial revolution. Not only did that age lay the foundation of modern manufacture and transport, but the methods which it introduced were as remarkable an advance on those they displaced as the more recent applications of scientific research are on processes based on empirical know ledge. As at the present time, says a writer m the London "Daily Telegraph," there whs in those days every possibility that advances in one direction would pave the way for progress in other departments of industry, and, indeed, many different industries advanced almost side by side. There was parallel growth, though in some cases a particular industry migra develop more or less independently, and then receive a further impetus from improvements in another. This interdependence of different industries has bocome a feature of modern progress. If there is one outstanding name in our industrial history it is that of Watt, to whom we are'in the main indebted for the steam engine as it existed prior to the introduction of the steam turbine. Before Watt's time, however, there was considerable evidence of industrial develop ment, and it was the application of the discovery o£ the steam engine to industries already considerably advanced which gave it its first element of importance Watt's work was undertaken to add to the ease of methods of manufacture and transport which were already to some extent developed. In the latter half of the eighteenth century industries had already progressed so far that the problem of the transport of raw materials and finished goods became urgent. Up to that time the horse was the only means of iulaud transport, both for goods and passengers, and the roads were of the crudest types, but the latter part of this century produced three outstanding road engineers in Telford, Macadam, and Metealfe. While a much less important figure than either Telford or Macadam, Metcalfe was a very remarkable person. Though blind, he became skilled in arts for which, ordinarily, sight would have been regarded as an essential, and there was never any doubt as to the efficiency with which he built many new roads. Increasing traffic, however, necessitated further means of conveyance, for the transport by road of the heavier loads ot coal was too costly. itivcr conveyance, which was employed to a limited extent, suggested the possible use of canals, the first of which was constructed by Brindley for the transport of the Duke of Bridgewater's coals from Worsley to Manchester. This pioneering effort was soon copied, and in a comparatively short time canal mileage was to be measured by hundreds of miles. While this was the common mode of transport before the intro duction of steam power, there had already been developed in this country an industry which was to some extent not so dependent upon transport, in that it was located near the ports. This was the textile industry, which derived its power from the water-wheels that had superseded the hand-power used in many of the previous spinning and weaving appliances. IRON PRODUCTION. There were, moreover, two great industries which for the most part were nearly related, not only by reason of their interdependence, but because of the fact that the natural resources which they utilised were found in close proximity. Those were coal and iron, and often it happened that the ironmasters were also owners of collieries. There had, indeed, been an important phase of iron production prior to the use of coal in smelting. In the early days of the iron industry charcoal was practically the only available fuel. This necessitated proximity to wood, and also to water, which was a source of power for the airblasts and the mills. When coal came to be tried the trouble was its sulphurous fumes and the deterioration of the quality of the iron produced by it. The use of coal in the blast furnace seems to have been introduced by Darby, who, after selecting particular grades of coal for the purpose, eliminated some of the sulphur by carbonisation. There were no patents on the new process, and not much notice was taken of it, though before long it began to make its effect felt in the increased output of cast iron. This was at the commencement of the eighteenth century, but it was nearly eighty years later that coal came to be used in forges in place of charcoal for the conversion of cast iron into wrought iron Tliia novelty was introduced by Cort. who, melting the cast iron in a primitive type of furnace, stirred the molten mass, exposing it to the purifying action of the air. As purification occurred the mass became more pasty, and the lumps were removed and roughly hammered into shape as bars of comparatively soft and pure iron. Earthy particles thus entrapped were squeezed out by reheating and rehammering. The effect on the industry was such that the output of bar iron was very largely increased, and the Swedisn bar iron which had formerly been used for many purposes was, to a large extent, superseded. The conversion of this bar into steel by the use of coal in place of charcoal was accomplished by Huntsman. Previou6lj shear steel had been produced from bar iron by cementation, but Huntsman introduced the crucible process, the metal being melted in large crucibles which were heated by means of coke. The uniformity of the melted product made an instant appeal, and a quality was obtainable of a higher order than that of the shear steel. WATT'S STEAM ENGINE. A fresh impetus was given to industrial progress by the energy and enterprise of James Watt, who set himself to improve on the existing primitive types of steam engine which were being developed for the production of power. When he addressed himself to the problem the propelling powji of pressure steam was being used on (me stroke of the engine, tlto external sudden cooling of the cylinder cll'eclinM the condensation of tlie steam and th» partial vacuum constituting the othei stroke. With this type of mechanical reaction, the difficulty was to keep the cylinder hot for one stroke in order that the maximum power of the steam could be extracted, and then as suddenly to effect is completely as possible the condensation >: this steam by cooling. By an inspiration Watt decided that the problem could only be effectively solved by transferring the hot steam at the end of the propelling stroke to a second chiimbci1 for condensa tion. Taking out his first patent in 17(i!l, 'lie completed his first engine in 1770 and at the expiration of his patents his mi proved engine had come into use in inan,\ works where power was required. Another problem which .had worried him was the translation of the rco.ipiocatintr motion o the piston into the rotary motion requir .•.I in the works. The simple crunk liavin;: already born patented. Watt was led to devise the suu-anu-plancl, motion which wjis v prominent feature of the <*;irly en i;incs. There were, howi'ver. enginee'tof note who regarded the achievement of this change of motion a.s well-nigh impossible, and Siiiciiton even advised against the installation of the steam engine at; a substitute for the steady motion of the water wheels which had previously been used in the cotton mills. FAR-REACHING DEVELOPMENTS. The' work of Walt was accomplished under groat difficulties, anidiig them the lack of funds, an obstacle which was over come by his association with lioujton. His discovery had a momentous ell'ect ,m some of the great industries which, already well developed, were nevertheless eager for further advances. Tho steam engine :n the hands of Stephcnsou solved the problem of transport on laid tracks. Trevithick applied tho engine to road vein cles. Collieries were among th first U> employ Watt's engines in the pumping of mines, while in the iron'and steel industry the new type of power was at once applied

to blowing engines and for the liosivy operations of rolling and hammering. It may be said, indeed, that, Watt eH'celed a world-wide industrial revolution. It is impossible to assess the debt we owe to his discoveries. lie appeared to be fully alive to many of the problems confronting engineers, and his suggested method* for the elimination of smoke by the consumption of what he regarded as its valuable constituents are those used to-day in more or less elaborate appliances. The century that has passed since the death of Watt has been one of unprecedented industrial expansion. With it have come enormous changes for the better in the conditions of industry. In recent times the engineer has been supplied with new materials, many of which have been discovered as the result of an exact, investigation into the properties of new metallic combinations. New fuels art available, and methods of transport, such an aviation, have been dependent upon the new and light though strong alloys and new fuels. The simple blast furnaces and forges of the pioneers of the iron and steel industry are now supplemented by the latest types of electric furnaces, which have in other phases of ndustry turned out new and hitherto undreamed-of products. The inventor of to-day starts out usually with a large vision of the problems before the industrial world, and his opportunities are still unlimited, but it must be left to future generations to determine when and in what form greater things are accomplished than were brought about by Watt's farreaching discovery of the successful type of steam engine.