13
Steam power
Earth parallel: 1712–1880. Goal: power anywhere, in any amount, from coal and water.
| ID | Achievement | About year |
|---|---|---|
| 13.01 | Test boiler with weighted safety valve ⚠learning what steam pressure and vacuum can do | 34 |
| 13.02 | Riveted iron boiler ⚠ | 34 |
| 13.03 | Boiler fittingssafety valve, water-level glass, pressure gauge, lead fusible plug | 34 |
| 13.04 | Water pressure test of every boiler ⚠pumped full of cold water to well above working pressure | 35 |
| 13.05 | Boiler house and brick chimneytall stack pulls air through the fire | 35 |
| 13.06 | Atmospheric beam engine ⚠steam condensed under a piston; pumps the mine dry | 35 |
| 13.07 | Steam-tight piston, rings and stuffing box | 35 |
| 13.08 | Separate condenser and air pumpthe cylinder stays hot; fuel use falls by two thirds | 35 |
| 13.09 | Double-acting cylinder with slide valve and eccentricsteam pushes both ways | 36 |
| 13.10 | Rotative beam engine ⚠crank and flywheel turn a shaft | 36 |
| 13.11 | Flyball governor and throttle valvethe engine holds its own speed | 36 |
| 13.12 | Boiler feed pump and steam injector | 36 |
| 13.13 | Steam-driven workshopsforge, mill and machine shop free of the river | 36 |
| 13.14 | High-pressure boiler with internal flue ⚠ | 37 |
| 13.15 | Pipe and boiler laggingkeeps the heat in | 37 |
| 13.16 | High-pressure horizontal engine ⚠small, strong, no condenser needed | 37 |
| 13.17 | Fire-tube boiler ⚠many small tubes; raises steam fast | 37 |
| 13.18 | Steam hammer ⚠forges large shafts and axles | 37 |
| 13.19 | Steam blowing engine for the blast furnace ⚠ | 37 |
| 13.20 | Direct-acting steam pump ⚠water supply, mine drainage, fire fighting | 38 |
| 13.21 | Steam winding engine at the mine ⚠ | 38 |
| 13.22 | Steam crane ⚠lifts tons at the works, the harbour and the railway cuttings | 38 |
| 13.23 | Gas compressor ⚠air and other gases squeezed by a steam-driven piston: air brakes, a rock drill, ice-making | 38 |
| 13.24 | Engine indicatordraws the pressure inside the cylinder on paper; measures power | 38 |
| 13.25 | Compound engine ⚠steam used twice, in a small then a large cylinder | 39 |
| 13.26 | High-speed enclosed engine ⚠steady enough to drive a generator directly | 39 |
| 13.27 | Steam steriliser ⚠steam under pressure kills every germ on instruments, dressings and culture jelly | 39 |
| 13.28 | Hot-water heating and a bath in every house | 39 |
| 13.29 | Stained slidesbacteria coloured so that they can be seen and told apart | 39 |
| 13.30 | Culture dishes, seaweed jelly and warm cabinetgerms grown on purpose, one kind at a time | 40 |
| 13.31 | Porcelain candle filterstrains the germs out of a liquid without heating it | 40 |
| 13.32 | The island's germs namedthe causes of wound fever and childbed fever found, grown and drawn in the Record | 40 |