The Steam Engine- Yesterday's technology still in use today

THE STEAM TURBINE ENGINE

The steam turbine is an ancient invention long forgotten by the modern world:  that is unless you work in power stations.  Even the most uneducated person has heard of steam engines but not many realize the enormous power they put out.  The steam turbine was used successfully in early warships to make a ridiculously heavy ship plow through the water at 30 knots(40mph).  No other engine could do this successfully for long periods of time with the same fuel consumption. The amount of torque (twisting force) these turbines put out is second to none.  Today the steam turbine is used primarily in power plants to produce electricity.  Nuclear power plants all use steam turbines.

An idea of the size of a typical steam turbine

The origins of the steam turbine go all the way back to ancient Greece to the inventor Archimedes.  He came up with a simple turbine that used steam to propel a teapot type contraption to spin in a circle.  Why it took centuries to exploit this is unknown, but the power of trapped steam is readily obvious to anyone who has used a pressure cooker on their stove.   Hot water in steam form wants to escape its confinement and will do so even if forced to push on metal blades like the one in the picture above.  This can be exploited to do an amazing amount of work.  Water has amazing properties, not the least of which all life on earth would not exist without, but one of its most useful qualities in the power of steam turbines has been largely ignored. Obviously modern jets use turbines to power their aircraft but that relies on hot gasses from fossil fuels exiting the turbine.  The water of steam turbines is reused (after being cooled) and only needs a heat source.  This is how nuclear power plans operate. Below is an example of a nuclear steam turbine.

It is estimated that 85% of power in the United States is nuclear steam turbine production.  That is a lot of power for an invention that showed up in 1884 in Charles Parsons steam turbine.  How does it feel to be using 1800s tech in the 2000s?  Some things cannot be improved on in terms of originality and the steam turbine is no exception.  It's efficiency can be improved, it's existence cannot.