James Watt :: essays research papers

JAMES WATTJames tungsten, the son of a merchant, was born in Greenock, Scotland, in 1717. At the age of nineteen, double-u was send to Glasgow to learn the trade of a mathematical-instrument maker. After spending a course in London, Watt returned to Glasgow in 1757 where he established his own instrument-making business. Watt soon developed a reputation as a tall quality engineer and was employed on the Forth & Clyde Canal and the Caledonian Canal. He was also engaged in the improvement of harbours and in the deepening of the Forth, Clyde and opposite rivers in Scotland. In 1763 Watt was sent a Newcomen steam engine to repair. While putting it back into working order, Watt discovered how he could make the engine more efficient. Watt worked on the idea for some(prenominal) months and eventually produced a steam engine that cooled the used steam in a condenser separate from the main cylinder. James Watt was non a wealthy man so he decided to prove a partner with money. John Roebuck, the owner of a Scottish ironworks, hold to provide financial backing for Watts project. When Roebuck went bankrupt in 1773, Watt took his ideas to Matthew Boulton, a successful businessman from Birmingham. For the next eleven years Boultons factory producing and change Watts steam-engines. These gondolas were mainly sold to colliery owners who used them to pump water from their mines. Watts machine was very popular because it was four times more powerful than those that had been base on the Thomas Newcomen design. Watt continued to experiment and in 1781 he produced a rotary-motion steam engine. Whereas his earlier machine, with its up-and-down pumping action, was ideal for draining mines, this new steam engine could be used to drive many different types of machinery. Richard Arkwright was spry to importance of this new invention, and in 1783 he began using Watts steam-engine in his textile factories. Others followed his lead and by 1800 there were over 500 of Watts m achines in Britains mines and factories. In 1755 Watt had been granted a patent by Parliament that prevented anybody else from making a steam-engine like the one he had developed. For the next twenty-five years, the Boulton & Watt company had a virtual monopoly over the production of steam-engines. Watt aerated his customers a premium for using his steam engines.