GEOS 24705 / ENST 24705 / ENSC 21100 2018 Lecture 6
History of Energy Use II
1700s: Europe’s energy crisis limits growth
“Lack of energy was the major handicap of the ancien régime economies”
--- F. Braudel, The Structures of Everyday Life The 18th century European energy crisis has 3 parts
1. Fuel became scarce even when only used for heat Wood was insufficient, & coal was ge ng hard to extract Surface “sea coal” à deep-sha mining below the water table
2. There were limited ways to make mo on No way to make mo on other than through capturing exis ng mo on or through muscle-power.
3. There was no good way to transport mo on Water and wind weren’t necessarily near demand
The only means out of the energy crisis was coal – but to mine the coal required mo on for pumps. The revolu onary solu on = break the heat à work barrier The revolu onary solu on = break the heat à work barrier use heat to make ordered mo on
Newcomen “Atmospheric Engine”, 1712
(Note that widespread use & Industrial Revolution followed invention by ~100 years – typical for energy technology) Physics: long understood that steam exerts force
Evapora ng water produces high pressure Pressure = force / area
“aeliopile” “lebes”: demonstration of lifting power of steam Hero of Alexandria, “Trea se on Pneuma cs”, 120 BC Physics: condensing steam can produce suc on force
Low pressure in air ght container means air exerts force Same physics that lets you suck liquid through a straw
First commercial use of steam: the Savery engine
“A new Inven on for Raiseing of Water and occasioning Mo on to all Sorts of Mill Work by the Impellent Force of Fire which will be of great vse and Advantage for Drayning Mines, serveing Towns with Water, and for the Working of all Sorts of Mills where they have not the benefi of Water nor constant Windes.”
Thomas Savery, patent applica on, filed 1698 Savery engine is not a commercial success
“.. Savery’s engine was wholly unsuited for draining mines, and he failed to induce the miners to take it up. The greatest height to which it could raise water was.. not more than sixty or eighty feet...Moreover the miners [were]...afraid to introduce furnaces into their sha s, on account of ...their giving rise to explosions... ”
Robert Galloway, “A History of Coal Mining in Great Britain”
Issues: Good only for pumping liquids. Efficiency below 0.1% First true steam engine:
Thomas Newcomen, 1712, blacksmith (copy of Papin 1690 design)
“It was at this juncture that the miners had put into their hands the most wonderful inven on which human ingenuity had yet produced – the Newcomen steam-engine.. a machine capable of draining with ease the deepest mines; applicable anywhere; requiring li le or no a en on; so docile that its movements might be governed by the strength of a child; so powerful that it could put forth the strength of hundreds of horses; so safe that... the utmost damage that can come to it, is its standing s ll for want of fire.”
Robert Galloway, “A History of Coal Mining in Great Britain” Newcomen’s design is state of the art for 60+ years
First true steam engine:
Thomas Newcomen, 1712, blacksmith
First reciproca ng engine: linear mo on of piston that transmits force
Steps 1 Fill chamber with steam 2 Cool the chamber to condense steam 3 Low chamber pressure pulls piston down 4 Open valve at bo om of piston, let gravity pull pump side down again ..... Steam fills chamber as piston rises
Issues: Very low efficiency: 0.5% Intermi ent force transmission
Newcomen’s design is state of the art for 60+ years First true steam engine:
Thomas Newcomen, 1712, blacksmith
First reciproca ng engine: linear mo on of piston that transmits force
Steps 1 Fill chamber with steam 2 Cool the chamber to condense steam 3 Low chamber pressure pulls piston down 4 Open valve at bo om of piston, let gravity pull pump side down again ..... Steam fills chamber as piston rises
Issues: Very low efficiency: 0.5% Intermi ent force transmission
Newcomen’s design is state of the art for 60+ years Newcomen engines wasteful but built for 100 years
First Newcomen engine (1712, Dudley Castle)
(reproduc on) video: h ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC6LUWSBXjk video: h ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QltRwiu4U2Q
Last Newcomen engine (1810 – 1923, Farme Colliery) manually operated valves used for li ing coal, not pumping What is a “heat engine”?
A device that generates converts thermal energy to mechanical work by exploi ng a temperature gradient
• Makes something more ordered: random mo ons of molecules à ordered mo on of en re body
• Makes something less ordered: degrades a temperature gradient (transfers heat from hot to cold) All heat engines involve heat flow No heat engine has perfect efficiency All heat engines involve waste heat
Cooling towers (from nuclear power plant?) heat from reactor drives a steam turbine Low-efficiency engines + cheap coal à high energy use per GDP in 1800s Britain?
100.0 All France 1800-2011 1800-1900 Britain: doubling Norway Netherlands 1800-2011 USA energy = doubling wealth. IrelandSwitzerlandAustriaNetherlandsCanada UKDenmarkGermanyBelgiumSwedenAustralia JapanFrance Finland U.K. 1800-2011 SpainItaly SKorea GreeceIsrael NewZealand Portugal Both Britain (and U.S.) U.S. 1850-2011 Chile historically were “wasteful” Argentina TurkeyMexicoLebanonMalaysia energy users – excess energy CostaRicaBrazil 10.0 PeruColombiaDominicanRepublicTunisia Ecuador Thailand used per GDP – and are more ElSalvador Jordan Syria “normal” now. SriLankaBoliviaGuatemala ($1000) Morocco Paraguay Indonesia PhilippinesHonduras India
PPP Vietnam PakistanNicaragua U.S. note: one datapoint per Cambodia 10 years l 1949 Bangladesh GDP Haiti 1.0 Nepal
$9/yr/W $3/yr/W Data: World Bank, ~1960-2011 2005 USD
0.1 www.energyhistory.org, converted to 2005 USD 0.1 1.0 10.0 Power use per capita (1000 W) U.S. data from EIA Gradual improvements in engine efficiency
6%
0.6% First Wa steam engine:
James Wa , 1769 patent (1774 produc on model)
Higher efficiency than Newcomen by introducing separate condenser
Reduces wasted heat: cylinder stays always hot, condenser stays always cold.
In Newcomen’s engine, the single metal cylinder alternately heats and cools
Net: ¼ fuel usage of Newcomen’s engine
Improved Wa steam engine:
James Wa , 1783 model Albion Mill, London
As before: Separate condenser
Improvements: • “Double-ac ng”: force on both up- and down-stroke • Rota onal mo on • Engine speed regulator • à Higher efficiency: ~3%
Engineers cared about efficiency: coal = money
video of 1788 engine
Once you have an engine to pump the mines, you envision other uses...
Little Eaton Gangway, Derbyshire, working til 1908
Coal and ore from mines have been carried by “tramways” since the 1500’s First locomo ves – conversions of sta onary steam engines built by Richard Trevithick, mining engineer Experimented with “high-pressure” steam (50 psi), double-ac ng cylinders. 1804 Pen-y-Darren locomo ve, carrying iron in Wales, replacing horse- drawn tramway. Ran ~10 miles at ~2 mph but destroyed track.
Image: 1804 Coalbrookdale locomo ve, which failed. No images of Pen-y-Darren survive First prac cal locomo ves begin 1814 “Puffing Billy”, designed by William Hedley, (mine manager), built by the mine’s blacksmith and enginewright Coal hauler, 9” x 36” cylinders
S ll basically a sta onary steam engine placed on wheels
Image: source unknown First passenger locomo ve, 1829 George Stephenson’s “Rocket”, built for Liverpool and Manchester Railway won the Rainhill trials at 29 mph (unloaded), 14 mph loaded first example of single pair of drive wheels
Stephenson was a mine engineman and brakeman, then enginewright. Illiterate til age 18. Built first locomotive in 1814.
Image: source unknown Double-ac on steam engine
Piston pushed by steam on both up- and down-stroke.
No more need for a condenser. Steam is simply vented at high temperature
slide valve alternates input & exhaust Double-ac on steam engine
slide valve alternates input & exhaust Double-ac on steam engine
primary use: transportation Double-ac on steam engine
What are benefits?
What are drawbacks?
Double-ac on steam engine
What are benefits?
Faster cycle – no need to wait for condensa on. Can get more power, higher rate of doing mechanical work.
Also lighter and smaller – no need to carry a condenser around.
What are drawbacks?
Inefficiency – ven ng hot steam means you are was ng energy.
High water usage – since lose steam, have to keep replacing the water Double-ac on steam engine:
Images top, le : Sandia So ware Image bo om: Ivan S. Abrams
water-intensive, fuel-intensive – requires many stops to take on water and fuel.