This paper presents a discussion of the steam engine. A history of the steam engine, how a steam engine functions, thermodynamics principles that make up the steam engine, a comparison of steam engine efficiency to the efficiency of the Carnot engine, and modern applications of the steam engine such as the steam turbine. This is followed by summary and conclusions.
The history of the steam engine and its development appears to be somewhat controversial. For example, Valenti (1996) reported that the British Royal Society to include Isaac Newton prevented the industrial and naval applications of steam power for 100 years. The Royal Society buried Denis Papin's 1690 invention of the paddle-wheel steamship that was developed with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Valenti stated further that the Royal Society stole this work and crated a mythical story about how Newcomen invented the steam engine to raise water from coalmines.
Valenti (1996) stated that by 1680, Papin had made a breakthrough toward understanding and controlling highly compressed steam in a steam pressure cooker. This cooker had a cylinder with thick walls, which enclosed the water with the bones and meat. The cooker was placed on a fire to cook. The goal of this discovery was to relieve poverty and provide people with wholesome foods. By 1687, Papin presented a new invention that transmitted power pneumatically to spread industrialization to areas where there was no water power. For this invention, two sets of pumps were erected; one was operated by a water wheel and connected by airtight pipes to another place in a different town. Power was transmitted by the alternate suction and pressure that was set by the first pump. The Royal Society opposed this invention and Papin left England. According to Valenti, Papin's invention was used in Newcomen engines 20 years later.
Valenti (1996) reported that Papin began to confront the issue of making large t...