OUR DEBT TO WAIT

Evening Star, Issue 19763, 13 January 1928, Page 2

OUR DEBT TO WAIT

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 d‘ daced as the more recent applications of scientific research are on processes based on empirical knowledge. As at the present time, says a writer in the London ‘ Daily Telegraph,’ there was in those days every possibility that advances in one direction would nave the way for progress in other departments of industry, and, indeed/ many different industries advanced almost side by sjde. There was parallel growth, though in some cases a particular industry might develop more or less independently, and then receive a further impetus from improvements in another. This interdependence of different industries has become a feature of modern progress. If there is one outstanding name ip 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 development, and it was the application of the discovery of 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 an/1 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 inland 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 Metcalfe. 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 farther means of conveyance, for the transport by load of the heavier loads of coal was too costly. River 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 introduction 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, winch derived its power front the water wheels that had superseded the hand power used in many of the previous spinning and weaving appliances IRON PRODUCTION. There wore, 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 These 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 clays 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 bo 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 thei 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 he used in forges in place of charcoal for the conversion of cast iron into wrought iron. This novelty was introduced by Cort, who, smelting 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 hammejred into shape as bars of comparatively soft and pure iron. Earthy particles thus entrapped were squeezed out by reheating and rebammering. The effect on the industry was such, that the output of bar iron was very largely increased, and the Swedish bar iron which had formerly been used for many purposes was to a large exent superseded. The conversion of this bar into steel by the use of coal in place of charcoal was accomplished by Huntsman. Previously shear steel had been produced from bar iron by cementation, but Huntsman introduced the crucible process, the metal being melted in largo 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 fresli 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 power of pressure steam was being used on one stroke of the engine, the external sudden cooling of the cylinder effecting the condensation of the steam and the partial vacuum constituting the other 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 as completely as possible the condensation of 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 chamber for condensation. Taking out his first patent in 1769, he completed his first engine in 1776, : and at the expiration of his patents his improved engine had come into use in many works where power was required. Another problem which had worried him was the translation of the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotary motion required in the work;. The simple crank having already been patented, Watt was Jed to devise the sun-and-planet motion which was aprominem, feature of the early en--1 gines. There were, however, engineers of note, who regarded the achievement of this change of motion as well-nigh impossible, and Smeaton even advised against the installation of the steam

engine as a substitute for the steady motion of the water wheels which had previously been used in the cotton mills. FAR-IIE ACiliN Cf DEVELOPMENTS. The work of Watt was accomplished under great difficulties, among them the lack of funds, an obstacle which was overcome by his association with Ronlton. His discovery had a momentous effect on some of the groat industries which, already well developed, were nevertheless eager for further advances. The steam engine in the hands of Stephenson solved the problem of transport on laid tracks. Trevithick applied the engine to road vehicles. Collieries were among the first to 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 lor the heavy operations of rolling and hammering. It may be said, indeed, that Watt effected a world-wide industrial revolution. It is impossible to assess the debt we owe to his discoveries. Ho appeared to be fully alive to many of the problems confronting engineers, and his suggested methods for the elimination of smoke by the consumption of what ho regarded as its valuable constituents are those used today 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. Jn recent times the engineer has been supplied with new materials, many of which have been discovered the result of an exact investigation info the properties of new metallic combinations. New fuels are available, and methods of transport, such as 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 industry 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 far-reaching discovery of the successful typo of steam engine.