Watt’s main contribution was to improve the steam engine, which brought mankind into the steam age.
The British instrument repairman James Watt invented the steam engine with a condenser separate from the cylinder wall in 1765, and obtained the British patent in 1769. The early Watt steam engine still used a balance lever and a tie rod mechanism to drive the water pump. In order to remove the condensed water and air from the condenser, Watt installed an air extraction pump.
Watt's creative work led to the rapid development of the steam engine. He turned the original machine that could only lift water into a steam engine that could be widely used. He doubled the thermal efficiency of the steam engine and greatly reduced the coal consumption. Therefore Watt was an improver of the steam engine. Extended information
The structure of the new steam engine invented by Watt based on the original steam engine remained almost unchanged for the next 50 years. The importance of Watt's steam engine invention is inestimable. It was widely used in factories and became the power of almost all machines. It changed people's work and production methods, greatly promoted technological progress and kicked off the industrial revolution.
It allows the location of factories to no longer depend on coal mines but can be built in more economical and efficient places. It also does not have to rely on water energy so that it can operate all year round, which further promotes the development of economies of scale. , which greatly improves productivity and also makes business investment more efficient.
The steam engine provides the possibility for a series of precision processing innovations. Higher technology ensures the performance improvement of various machines, including the steam engine itself. After continuous efforts to introduce higher pressure steam, steam trains and steamers soon followed.
Watt is the world-recognized inventor of the steam engine. His creative spirit, superhuman talent and unremitting research left behind precious spiritual and material wealth for future generations. The steam engine improved and invented by Watt was a huge contribution to modern science and production and had epoch-making significance. It led to the rise of the first industrial technological revolution and greatly promoted the development of social productivity.
By the 1830s, steam engines were widely used in textile, metallurgy, coal mining, transportation and other sectors, quickly triggering a technological revolution. Fulton, an American, invented a ship powered by a Watt steam engine; Stephenson, an Englishman, invented a train powered by a Watt steam engine.
Watt's steam engine became a truly international invention. It effectively promoted the industrial revolution in Europe in the 18th century and pushed world industry into the "steam age".
Baidu Encyclopedia-James Watt