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Steam

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Society: ASMEMain Category: Naval EngineeringSub Category: Steam, WaterEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1892Creator: U.S. Navy

The U.S.S. Olympia is one of the two surviving ships of the era of the vertical reciprocating steam engine. The Cruiser Olympia, launched in 1892, was one of the first naval ships to be built with these engines. As part of the new American steel Navy, the construction of the Olympia was authorized in 1888 as cruiser number 6. As part of a Congressionally-mandated program to establish complete domestic capability for warship construction, the ship's contract was awarded to the Union Iron Works of San Francisco.

Corliss steam engine
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1960-1969DateCreated: 19641300 Frenchtown RdEast GreenwichState: RIZip: 02818Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-steam/-164-new-england-wireless-and-steam-museum, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/311b4c58-18b4-4842-9f8b-18a866e6ad13/164-New-England-Wireless-and-Steam-Museum.aspxCreator: Merriam, Robert

Stationary steam engines, once the prime movers of industry, powered trains, ships, and mills in an age when there was no electric power. By the 19th century, American industry, especially in England, was rapidly outgrowing the capacity of the ater power that had been its principal prime mover. The need for a new power source inspired an intense development of the steam engine, the work of inventors directed mainly at imporving fuel efficiency by reducing steam consumption. The leader in this effort was George H.

YearAdded:
1992
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikicommons/The-daffodil (CC BY-SA 4.0)Image Caption: Corliss steam engineEra_date_from: 1964
Pratt Institute Power Plant
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1880-1889DateCreated: 1887BrooklynState: NYCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-steam/-25-pratt-institute-power-plant-%281887%29Creator: Pratt, Charles

Steam and the inexpensive electricity it could produce brought about dramatic technical growth in the United States. Developed during the last century, reliable and efficient steam engines were the forerunners of today's massive generating facilities. A rare survivor of the period, the Pratt facility is the oldest generating plant of its kind in the Northeast and embodies the typical features of engines in a row, open-front marble switchboard, and an observation balcony at street level.

YearAdded:
1977
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Pratt Institute Power PlantEra_date_from: 1887
Port Washington Power Plant
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1930-1939DateCreated: 1935Wisconsin Electric Power CompanyMilwaukeeState: WIZip: 52303Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-steam/-51-port-washington-power-plant-%281935%29Creator: Wisconsin Electric Company

The Port Washington Power Plant of the Wisconsin Electric Company was the most thermally efficient steam power plant in the world for many years following its opening in 1935. Its design reflected the cumulative experience of the utility's engineers in burning pulverized coal at the Oneida Street Plant and the Lakeside Station in Milwaukee.

YearAdded:
1980
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: The dedication of Port Washington Power Plant coincided with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the city in which it is located.Era_date_from: 1935
Hacienda La Esperanza Sugar Mill Steam Engine
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1860-1869DateCreated: 1861Conservation Trust of Puerto RicoManatíState: PRZip: 00617Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/mechanical-power-production-steam/-35-hacienda-la-esperanza-sugar-mill-steam-engine, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/60f1d4d5-215e-4334-8267-a40a7372288a/35_Hacienda_La_Esperanza_Sugar_Mill_Steam_Engine.aspxCreator: Watt, James , Newcomen, Thomas

The La Esperanza sugar mill steam engine is one of the few remaining American links to the pioneer beam engines of the English inventors Thomas Newcomen (1712) and James Watt (1769). The engine was built in 1861 in Cold Spring, New York, by the West Point Foundry. The general arrangement and details, including the Gothic embellishment, are typical of machinery of the period. The straight-line motion of the piston rod is accommodated to the arc of the moving beam end by a parallel motion. Watt regarded this ingenious linkage as the invention of which he was most proud.

YearAdded:
1979
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Hacienda La Esperanza Sugar Mill Steam EngineEra_date_from: 1861
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1895665 Marietta StreetAtlantaState: GAZip: 30313Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/mechanical-power-production-steam/-110-harris-corliss-steam-engine-%281895%29Creator: William Harris steam engine company
This 350-horsepower Corliss type steam engine is an example of a typical late nineteenth century steam engine. The essential feature of Corliss type engines is the valves that admit steam to and exhaust it from the cylinder. The Corliss valve gear made the engine extremely efficient in steam consumption and was the most efficient system for controlling low to medium speed engines. This particular engine operated for more than eighty years, having been retired not by age but over concern for stack emissions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The engine was built by the William A.
YearAdded:
1985
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Harris-Corliss Steam EngineEra_date_from: 1895
Greens Bayou Generator Plant
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 194913300 West Bellfort AvenueHoustonState: TXZip: 77099Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/154-greens-bayou-generator-plantCreator: Sinton, Walton

On April 21, 1949, a completely outdoor turbine-generator was placed into commercial operation at the Greens Bayou electric power plant--the first fully outdoor unit to operate in the United States. The demand for unprecedented quantities of electricity after World War II pressed utilities to provide addition power quickly. The outdoor design, unlike the traditional large turbine hall, resulted in significant reductions in the cost per kilowatt to build the plant.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Courtesy ASMEImage Caption: Greens Bayou Generator PlantEra_date_from: 1949
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, ElectricSub Category: SteamEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 19066605 13th Avenue SouthSeattleState: WAZip: 98108Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-steam/-45-georgetown-steam-plant-%281906%29-georgetown-powerCreator: Stone and Webster, Gilbreth, Frank
The Georgetown Steam Plant, a surprisingly complete and operable steam power plant after a career of nearly seventy-five years, was built in the early 1900s when Seattle's inexpensive hydroelectric power attracted manufacturers. Much of the power produced at this plant operated the streetcars.
YearAdded:
1980
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/wneuetc (CC BY-ND 2.0)Image Caption: Georgetown Steam PlantEra_date_from: 1906
Edison 'Jumbo' Engine-Driver Dynamo
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1880-1889DateCreated: 1882Henry Ford MuseumDearbornState: MIZip: 48124Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-steam/-48-edison--jumbo--engine-driver-dynamo-%281882%29Creator: Edison, Thomas

This dynamo, connected directly to a high-speed steam engine, was one of six that produced direct current at Thomas A. Edison's electric power station at 257 Pearl Street in New York City. The Pearl Street Station was the prototype for central station power generation. Edison set out in 1878 to provide an electrical distribution system to bring lighting into the home: His first filament lamp lit on October 21, 1879. With the help of Frances Upton and C.L. Clarke, Edison built his engine-driven dynamo for the 1881 Paris Electrical Exposition.

YearAdded:
1980
Image Caption: Edison jumbo dynamoEra_date_from: 1882
Eddystone Station Unit #1
Society: ASMEMain Category: Electric, MechanicalSub Category: SteamEra: 1960-1969DateCreated: 1960#1 Industrial HighwayEddystoneState: PAZip: 19013Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/electric-power-production-steam/-226-eddystone-station-unit--1-%281960%29Creator: Combustion Engineering Inc., Westinghouse Electric

Operated by the Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO), now known as Exelon Corp., Eddystone Station Unit #1 is a 325 MW pulverized-coal-fired plant that pushed the technology of steam-electric generating plants. When built in 1960, engineers sought to make a more efficient plant using higher temperatures and pressures and larger machines. Previous experience at Philo 6 (Zanesville, Ohio, 1957) had demonstrated supercritical steam plants would work, so engineers pushed beyond that frontier to even larger machines and efficiencies.

YearAdded:
2003
Image Caption: Eddystone StationEra_date_from: 1960
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Eddystone Station Unit #1

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Edison 'Jumbo' Engine-Driver Dynamo

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Read More
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Greens Bayou Generator Plant

On April 21, 1949, a completely outdoor turbine-generator was placed into commercial operation at the Greens Bayou electric power plant--the first fully outdoor unit to operate in the United States. The demand for unprecedented quantities of electricity after World War II pressed utilities to…

Read More
This 350-horsepower Corliss type steam engine is an example of a typical late nineteenth century steam engine. The essential feature of Corliss type engines is the valves that admit steam to and exhaust it from the cylinder. The Corliss valve gear made the engine extremely efficient in steam… Read More
Hacienda La Esperanza Sugar Mill Steam Engine

The La Esperanza sugar mill steam engine is one of the few remaining American links to the pioneer beam engines of the English inventors Thomas Newcomen (1712) and James Watt (1769). The engine was built in 1861 in Cold Spring, New York, by the West Point Foundry. The general arrangement and…

Read More
Port Washington Power Plant

The Port Washington Power Plant of the Wisconsin Electric Company was the most thermally efficient steam power plant in the world for many years following its opening in 1935. Its design reflected the cumulative experience of the utility's engineers in burning pulverized coal at the Oneida…

Read More
Pratt Institute Power Plant

Steam and the inexpensive electricity it could produce brought about dramatic technical growth in the United States. Developed during the last century, reliable and efficient steam engines were the forerunners of today's massive generating facilities. A rare survivor of the period, the Pratt…

Read More
Corliss steam engine

Stationary steam engines, once the prime movers of industry, powered trains, ships, and mills in an age when there was no electric power. By the 19th century, American industry, especially in England, was rapidly outgrowing the capacity of the ater power that had been its principal prime mover.…

Read More
(Image not displayed)

The U.S.S. Olympia is one of the two surviving ships of the era of the vertical reciprocating steam engine. The Cruiser Olympia, launched in 1892, was one of the first naval ships to be built with these engines. As part of the new American steel Navy, the construction of the Olympia was…

Read More

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