Editing Industrial Revolution (section)

===Steam power===
{{Main|Steam power during the Industrial Revolution}}
[[File:Maquina vapor Watt ETSIIM.jpg|thumb|A [[Watt steam engine]], invented by [[James Watt]], who transformed the [[steam engine]] from a [[reciprocating motion]] that was used for pumping to a [[Rotation|rotating motion]] suited to industrial applications; Watt and others significantly improved the efficiency of the steam engine.]]
[[File:Newcomens Dampfmaschine aus Meyers 1890.png|thumb|[[Newcomen steam engine|Newcomen's steam-powered atmospheric engine]] was the first practical piston steam engine; subsequent steam engines were to power the Industrial Revolution.]]
The development of the [[stationary steam engine]] was important in the Industrial Revolution; however, during its early period, most industrial power was supplied by water and wind. In Britain, by 1800 an estimated 10,000 horsepower was being supplied by steam. By 1815 steam power had grown to 210,000&nbsp;hp.<ref>{{cite book|first= David S.|last= Landes|date=1969|title= The Unbound Prometheus|publisher= Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge|isbn= 978-0-521-09418-4|page=104}}</ref>

The first commercially successful industrial use of steam power was patented by [[Thomas Savery]] in 1698. He constructed in London a low-lift combined vacuum and pressure water pump that generated about one [[horsepower]] (hp) and was used in waterworks and a few mines.<ref>{{Citation |last=Allen |first=G. C. |title=Economic Development before 1860 |date=10 January 2018 |work=The Industrial Development of Birmingham and the Black Country 1860–1927 |pages=13–45 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.1201/9781351251341-4 |isbn=978-1-351-25134-1}}</ref> The first successful piston steam engine was introduced by [[Thomas Newcomen]] before 1712. Newcomen engines were installed for draining hitherto unworkable deep mines, with the engine on the surface; these were large machines, requiring a significant amount of capital, and produced upwards of {{convert|5|hp|kW|round=0.5|order=flip|abbr=on}}. They were extremely inefficient by modern standards, but when located where coal was cheap at pit heads, they opened up a great expansion in coal mining by allowing mines to go deeper.<ref name="auto2">L. T. C. Rolt and J. S. Allen, ''The Steam Engine of Thomas Newcomen'' (Landmark Publishing, Ashbourne 1997). p. 145.</ref> The engines spread to Hungary in 1722, then Germany and Sweden; 110 were built by 1733. In the 1770s John Smeaton built large examples and introduced improvements. 1,454 engines had been built by 1800.<ref name="auto2" /> Despite their disadvantages, Newcomen engines were reliable, easy to maintain and continued to be used in coalfields until the early 19th century.

A fundamental change in working principles was brought about by [[Scottish people|Scotsman]] [[James Watt]]. With financial support from his business partner [[English people|Englishman]] [[Matthew Boulton]], he had succeeded by 1778 in perfecting [[Watt steam engine|his steam engine]], which incorporated radical improvements, notably closing the upper part of the cylinder making the low-pressure steam drive the top of the piston instead of the atmosphere and the celebrated separate steam condenser chamber. The separate condenser did away with the cooling water that had been injected directly into the cylinder, which cooled the cylinder and wasted steam. These improvements increased engine efficiency so Boulton and Watt's engines used only 20–25% as much coal per horsepower-hour as Newcomen's. Boulton and Watt opened the [[Soho Foundry]] for the manufacture of such engines in 1795.

In 1783, the Watt steam engine had been fully developed into a [[Single- and double-acting cylinders|double-acting]] rotative type, which meant it could be used to directly drive the rotary machinery of a factory or mill. Both of Watt's basic engine types were commercially successful, and by 1800 the firm [[Boulton and Watt]] had constructed 496 engines, with 164 driving reciprocating pumps, 24 serving blast furnaces, and 308 powering mill machinery; most of the engines generated from {{convert|5|to|10|hp|kW|order=flip|round=0.5|abbr=on}}.

Until about 1800, the most common pattern of steam engine was the [[beam engine]], built as an integral part of a stone or brick engine-house, but soon self-contained rotative engines were developed, such as the [[table engine]]. Around the start of the 19th century, at which time the Boulton and Watt patent expired, Cornish engineer [[Richard Trevithick]] and the American [[Oliver Evans]] began to construct higher-pressure non-condensing steam engines, exhausting against the atmosphere. High pressure yielded an engine and boiler compact enough to be used on mobile road and rail [[locomotive]]s and [[steamboat]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Selgin |first1=George |last2=Turner |first2=John L. |date=2011 |title=Strong Steam, Weak Patents, or the Myth of Watt's Innovation-Blocking Monopoly, Exploded |journal=The Journal of Law & Economics |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=841–861 |doi=10.1086/658495 |jstor=10.1086/658495 |s2cid=154401778 |issn=0022-2186}}</ref>

Small industrial power requirements continued to be provided by animal and human muscle until widespread [[electrification]] in the 20th century. These included [[crank (mechanism)|crank]]-powered, [[treadle]]-powered and horse-powered workshop, and light industrial machinery.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hunter|Bryant|1991|pp=}}</ref>