Jonathan Carter HornblowerBorn 5 Jul 1753; died Mar 1815 .English mining engineer who invented the first compound steam engine for which he claimed better efficiency, using two cylinders of unequal size attached to the same beam. Steam acts first in a small high-pressure cylinder, leaving at a lower pressure, but still sufficient to expand further in a larger cylinder. He obtained a patent on 13 Jul 1781 (UK No. 1298), but his engine still used a separate condenser, thus infringing on patents held by James Watt's company (Boulton & Watt), so he had to abandon that design. In 1798 and 1805, he patented rotary forms of steam engine (never built). He also invented a machine for sweeping chimneys with a blast of air. His compound steam engine principle was revived in 1804 by Arthur Woolf.« |
