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Beam Engine

 
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A beam engine is a design of engine
Engine

An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input.An engine whose purpose is to produce kinetic energy output from a fuel is called a Wiktionary:prime mover; alternatively, a motor is a device which produces kinetic energy from a preprocessed "fuel" ....
 based on the principles of a first-class lever
Lever

In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or wiktionary:pivot point to multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object....
.






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Warnockhead Beam Engine
Uk Crofton Pumping Station Beam Gallery
A beam engine is a design of engine
Engine

An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input.An engine whose purpose is to produce kinetic energy output from a fuel is called a Wiktionary:prime mover; alternatively, a motor is a device which produces kinetic energy from a preprocessed "fuel" ....
 based on the principles of a first-class lever
Lever

In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or wiktionary:pivot point to multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object....
. A force is applied to one end of a beam, which is pivoted in the middle, and the lever action transfers the force to create work at the other end of the beam.

The most familiar example is the type of stationary steam engine
Stationary steam engine

Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on Rail transport, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars , agricultural engines used for ploughing or threshing, and marine engines....
 used for pumping water from mines. Here the piston of a vertically-mounted cylinder is attached to one end of the beam, to apply the force through upward and/or downward motion. The other end of the beam is connected to a vertically-acting pump. A downward pull on the piston causes the other end of the beam to lift whatever is attached to it, thereby doing 'work'.

The most common engine was the stationary steam-driven type, but water, wind or other forms of propulsion could be used.

Beam engines need not be 'stationary'. The steamboat
Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam engine, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels....
 Eureka
Eureka (ferryboat)

The Eureka is a side-wheel paddle steamboat, built in 1890, which is now preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California, California....
 is still powered by its rotative beam engine.

History

The first beam engines were water-powered, and used to pump water from mines. A 'preserved' example may be seen at Wanlockhead
Wanlockhead

Wanlockhead is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland nestling in the Lowther Hills, which form part of the Southern Uplands. It is Scotland's highest village at 467 m or 1531 ft and the highest point of the Southern Upland Way, a walking trail that traditionally starts at Portpatrick on the west coast, in Dumfries & Galloway, and fini...
, in Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
.

Beam engines were extensively used to power pump
Pump

A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as gases, liquids or Slurry. A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. One common misconception about pumps is the thought that they create pressure....
s on the English canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
 system when it was expanded by means of locks early in the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, production, and transportation had a profound effect on the socioeconomics and cultural conditions in United Kingdom....
, and also to drain water from mines
Mining

Mining is the extraction of value minerals or other geology materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, Sodium chloride and potash....
 in the same period, and as winding engine
Winding engine

A winding engine is a stationary engine used to control a cable, for example to power a hoist at a pit head. Electric hoist controllers that have replaced proper winding engines in modern mining but use electric motors are also traditionally referred to as winding engines....
s.

The first steam-powered beam engine was developed by Thomas Newcomen
Thomas Newcomen

Thomas Newcomen was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He was born in Dartmouth, England, Devon, England, near a part of the country noted for its tin Minings....
. The Newcomen steam engine
Newcomen steam engine

The atmospheric engine invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, today referred to as a Newcomen steam engine , was the first practical device to harness the power of steam to produce mechanical work....
 was adopted by many mines in Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
 and elsewhere, but it was relatively inefficient and consumed a large quantity of fuel. James Watt resolved the main inefficiencies of the Newcomen engine in his Watt steam engine
Watt steam engine

The Watt steam engine was the first type of steam engine to make use of steam at a pressure just above atmospheric pressure to drive the piston helped by a partial vacuum....
, and these beam engines were used commercially in much larger numbers.

Watt held patents on key aspects of his engine's design, and it was not until these patents expired that others could develop modifications to improve it. The beam engine was considerably improved and enlarged in the tin- and copper-rich areas of south west England, which enabled the draining of the deep mines that existed there. Consequently the Cornish beam engines
Cornish engine

A Cornish engine is a type of steam engine developed in Cornwall, United Kingdom, for pumping water from a tin Mining. It is a form of beam engine that uses steam at a higher pressure than the earlier engines designed by James Watt ....
 became world famous, as they remain the most massive beam engines ever constructed.

Rotative beam engines

In a rotative beam engine, the piston is mounted vertically, and the piston rod
Piston rod

In a piston engine, a piston rod joins a piston to a connecting rod.Many internal combustion engines, and in particular all current automobile engines, do not have true piston rods, and the term piston rod is often used as a synonym for connecting rod in the context of these engines....
 does not connect directly to the connecting rod
Connecting rod

In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod or conrod connects the piston to the crank or crankshaft. The connecting rod was invented sometime between 1174 and 1200 when a Inventions in medieval Islam, Timeline of Islamic science and engineering and Artisan named al-Jazari built five machines to pump water for the kings of t...
, but instead to a rocker or beam above both the piston and flywheel
Flywheel

A flywheel is a mechanical device with significant moment of inertia used as a storage device for rotational energy. Flywheels resist changes in their rotational speed, which helps steady the rotation of the shaft when a fluctuating torque is exerted on it by its power source such as a piston-based engine, or when the load placed on it is...
. The beam is pivoted in the middle, with the cylinder on one side and the flywheel, which incorporates the crank
Crank (mechanism)

A crank is an arm at right angles to a shaft , by which motion is imparted to or received from the shaft; it is also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion....
, on the other. The connecting rod connects to the opposite end of the beam to the piston rod, and then to the flywheel.

Early Watt engines used Watt's patent sun and planet gear
Sun and planet gear

The sun and planet gear was a method of converting reciprocal motion to rotary motion and utilised a reciprocating steam engine.It was likely invented by the Scotland engineer William Murdoch, an employee of Boulton and Watt, but was patented by James Watt in October 1781....
, rather than a simple crank, as use of the latter was protected by a patent owned by someone else. Once the patent had expired, the simple crank was employed universally.

See also

  • Stationary engine
    Stationary engine

    A stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move. It is normally used not to propel a vehicle but to drive a piece of immobile equipment such as a pump or power tool....
  • Steam engine
    Steam engine

    File:Steam-powered fire engine.jpgA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines have a long history, going back at least 2000 years....
  • Cornish engine
    Cornish engine

    A Cornish engine is a type of steam engine developed in Cornwall, United Kingdom, for pumping water from a tin Mining. It is a form of beam engine that uses steam at a higher pressure than the earlier engines designed by James Watt ....
  • Man engine
    Man engine

    A Man engine was a mechanism of reciprocating ladders and stationary platforms installed in Mining to assist the miners? journeys to and from the working levels....
  • Mining in Cornwall
    Mining in Cornwall

    Mining in Cornwall first began in the early Bronze Age approximately 2,150 BC and ended with the South Crofty tin mine closing in 1998....
  • Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum
    Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum

    The Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum is an industrial heritage museum at Prestongrange between Musselburgh and Prestonpans on the B1348 on the East Lothian coast, Scotland UK....


Preserved beam engines

  • Bolton Steam Museum
    Bolton Steam Museum

    Bolton Steam Museum is a museum in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which houses a variety of preserved steam engines. It is owned and run by the Northern Mill Engine Society ....
     – includes several rotative beam engines originally used to drive mills
  • Crofton Pumping Station
    Crofton Pumping Station

    Crofton Pumping Station is a pumping station near the village of Great Bedwyn in the England county of Wiltshire: it supplies the summit pound of the Kennet and Avon Canal with water....
     – two engines, including the oldest working 'Cornish' engine, in its original location, in the world (1812)
  • Crossness Pumping Station
    Crossness Pumping Station

    Crossness Pumping Station was a sewage pumping station designed by engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette and architect Charles Henry Driver. It was constructed between 1859 and 1865 as part of his redevelopment of the London sewerage system....
     – set of four rotative beam engines: the largest surviving working examples
  • Museum De Cruquius
    Museum De Cruquius

    The Museum De Cruquius occupies the old Nicolaus Samuel Cruquius steam pumping station in Cruquius , The Netherlands. It derives its name from Nicolaas Kruik , a Dutch land-surveyor and one of many promotors of a plan to pump the Haarlemmermeer dry....
     – the eight-beamed engine at Cruquius
    Cruquius (town)

    Cruquius is a town in the Netherlands province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and lies about 4 km northwest of Hoofddorp....
     is thought to be the largest steam engine ever built
  • Elsecar
    Elsecar Heritage Centre

    Elsecar Heritage Centre is a Living History centre in Elsecar, South Yorkshire. It also comprises various Retailing, galleries, art studios and an exhibition hall....
     – the only surviving Newcomen engine (in the world) to have remained in its original location (1795)
  • Kew Bridge Steam Museum
    Kew Bridge Steam Museum

    Kew Bridge Steam Museum houses a museum of water supply and a collection of water pumping steam engines. The museum is an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage....
     – four 'Cornish' engines (in original location) and several rotative engines (in museum):
    includes largest working 'Cornish' engine in the world
  • Markfield Beam Engine
    Markfield Beam Engine

    The Markfield Beam Engine is a 100 horsepower beam engine pumping stationary engine, built in 1886 to transfer sewage from the Middlesex district of Tottenham into the London system for treatment at the Beckton works....
     – a compound, rotative engine
  • Ryhope Engines Museum
    Ryhope Engines Museum

    The Ryhope Engines Museum is a visitor attraction in the Ryhope suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.The Grade II* listed building is the most visited man-made landmark in Ryhope and is based at The Ryhope Pumping Station, operational for 100 years before closing in 1967....
     - twin rotative beam engines; built 1868
  • Smethwick Engine
    Smethwick Engine

    The Smethwick Engine is a Watt steam engine made by Boulton and Watt; brought into service in May 1779.Originally, it was one of two engines used to pump water back up to the 491 foot summit level of the BCN Main Line canal at Smethwick, not far from the Soho Foundry where it was made....
     – oldest working steam engine in the world (1779)
  • The Western Springs Water Works, Auckland, New Zealand - 1877 double Woolf compound engine


External links

  • of a Watt beam engine.
  • in Cornwall
    Cornwall

    Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
    .