Thomas Savery (around 1650 to May 15, 1715) was an English inventor and engineer. He created the first steam-powered device used in business, a steam pump known as the "Savery engine." This pump was a new way to move water, which helped remove water from mines and made it possible to provide water to many people.

Career

Thomas Savery was born around 1650 at a large house in Shilstone, near Modbury, Devon. He received a good education and became a military engineer, reaching the rank of captain by 1702. In his free time, he conducted experiments in mechanics. In 1696, he got a patent for a machine to polish glass or marble and another for a ship design that used paddle-wheels powered by a capstan. However, the Admiralty rejected this idea after a report by Edmund Dummer, the Navy’s Surveyor.

Savery also worked for the Sick and Hurt Commissioners, arranging to provide medicines to the Navy Stock Company, which was linked to the Society of Apothecaries. His work for them took him to Dartmouth, Devon, where he likely met Thomas Newcomen.

On July 2, 1698, Savery patented a steam-powered pump, which he called The Miner’s Friend; or, An Engine to Raise Water by Fire. It was later called the “Savery engine” because “engine” was used to describe any device. He demonstrated it to the Royal Society on June 14, 1699. His patent had no illustrations, but in 1702, he described the machine in his book, claiming it could remove water from mines.

The pump had no moving parts except for the taps. It worked by heating water in a boiler to create steam, which was then directed into a vessel. When the vessel was cooled, steam condensed, creating a vacuum that pulled water upward. Once the vessel was full, steam was added again to push the water out. However, the pump had four major problems: it wasted heat by warming the water being pumped, its joints could not handle high pressure and needed frequent repairs, it required multiple pumps to lift water from deep mines, and it could only lift water up to about 30 feet (9.1 meters) due to atmospheric pressure.

Savery’s patent initially protected his invention for 14 years. In 1699, Parliament extended this protection for 21 more years in an act called the “Fire Engine Act,” which supported his invention for raising water and powering machinery. This act allowed Savery to claim all pumps that used fire to move water.

In Scotland, James Smith of Whitehill obtained the rights to use Savery’s pump. In 1699, he signed an agreement with Savery and got a Scottish patent in 1701, modeled after Savery’s English patent. Smith called the machine “an engine for raising water and moving millwork by fire” and claimed he modified it to pump water from 84 feet deep.

In England, Savery’s patent forced Thomas Newcomen to partner with him. By 1712, they arranged to develop Newcomen’s improved steam engine, which used atmospheric pressure instead of high-pressure steam. This design avoided the dangers of high pressure and used a piston invented by Denis Papin in 1690 to lift water from deep mines.

Papin returned to London in 1707 and worked with Savery for five years, but Savery did not credit or pay him for his contributions.

After Savery died in 1715, his patent and the Fire Engine Act were owned by a company called The Proprietors of the Invention for Raising Water by Fire. This company gave licenses to build and operate Newcomen engines, charging up to £420 per year in fees. In one case, a colliery paid £200 per year and half its profits for the company’s help.

The Fire Engine Act remained in effect until 1733, four years after Newcomen’s death.

In March 1702, a newspaper announced that Savery’s pumps were ready for use and could be seen at his workhouse in Salisbury Court, London. One pump was installed at York Buildings, producing steam eight to ten times stronger than normal air but damaging the machine’s joints, which had to be repaired with spelter. Another operated at Hampton Court and Campden House for 18 years.

Savery’s pumps were tested in some mines, but one failed to work at Broad Waters in Wednesbury, breaking the machine apart due to excessive steam. This failure may have occurred around 1705. Another attempt to use a steam pump was proposed in 1706 by

Comparison with Newcomen steam engine

The Savery steam pump cost much less to buy than the Newcomen steam engine. A Savery pump with 2 to 4 horsepower cost between 150 and 200 British pounds. These pumps were also available in smaller sizes, as small as 1 horsepower. Newcomen steam engines were larger and more expensive. This was because piston steam engines did not work well when they were small, until about 1900, when 2-horsepower piston engines became available. Savery-type pumps were still being made until the late 18th century.

Inspiration for later work

Later pumping systems were based on Savery's pump. For example, the twin-chamber pulsometer steam pump was a successful development of it.