Watt patents the separate condenser
James Watt patented a method of condensing steam in a vessel separate from the working cylinder, so that the cylinder need never be cooled. It cut the coal consumed per unit of work by roughly two-thirds to three-quarters, and it took six further years and John Wilkinson's cylinder-boring machine before the design could be built accurately enough to sell. Parliament extended the patent to 1800.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- The steam engine · technology · United Kingdom · not located
- James Watt · person · United Kingdom · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
Watt's 1769 patent for lessening the consumption of steam and fuel in fire engines, and the Act of 1775 extending it
Supports the separate-condenser priority date, the extension of the monopoly to 1800, and the Boulton and Watt licensing model. V55 verification basis: NOT consulted — legislation.gov.uk is blocked from this session. The patent number and the regnal citation of the extending Act are deliberately omitted rather than reconstructed from memory.
UK patent roll and Public General Acts · 1769; extended 1775 · Partly verified
James Watt's specification of 1769 for a method of lessening the consumption of steam and fuel in fire engines; extended by private Act of Parliament in 1775 to run to 1800
Recorded on The steam engine
- Watt patents the separate condenser
- Boulton and Watt form their partnership
- The rotative engine turns a shaft
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- The rotative engine turns a shaft · 1781–1782
- Boulton and Watt form their partnership · 1775