TABLE OF CONTENTS More of the world s energy is consumed in surface condensers than for any other single use. Even at the very start of the industrial revolution, the father of the surface condenser, the barometric condenser, consumed huge amounts of heat.
The central idea of our industrialized society is to have machines do the work formerly done by humans or animals. The technical problem that kicked off the industrial revolution was flooding in the tin mines of Cornwall, a region in southern Britain. To work the mines and extract the valuable tin ore, steam-driven reciprocating pumps had been constructed. These plunger-type pumps were moved up and down by the famous beam engines, and these reciprocating engines were powered by steam, thanks to the efforts of Thomas Newcomen in 1712.
The motive steam for these reciprocating engines was charged into a steam cylinder. The piston inside the cylinder was pushed up by the expanding steam. The piston then lifted the beam attached to the reciprocating pump. Cold water was admitted next and jetted into the steam cylinder. The cold water absorbed the latent-heat content of the steam. The steam pressure inside the cylinder dropped, and the piston dropped. This pulled the beam down. It was the up-and-down movement of the beam that powered the reciprocating pump. The structures, beams, foundations, and bits and pieces of ancient machinery are scattered all across Cornwall. (Caution: The tin mine entrances are rather obscure, overgrown with brambles, and your author more or less fell into...
