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''Resolution'' was an early beam engine, installed between 1781–1782 at Coalbrookdale as a water-returning engine to power the blast furnaces and ironworks there. It was one of the last water-returning engines to be constructed, before the rotative beam engine made this type of engine obsolete. == Water power in Coalbrookdale == Coalbrookdale was a cradle of the First Industrial Revolution and was the scene of Abraham Darby's first production of iron by a coke-fired blast furnace, rather than the previous and expensive charcoal. Coalbrookdale is a narrow steep-sided valley that offered useful water power to drive the furnace blast and the various stamp mills, boring engines, etc. Contemporary visitors commented upon the picturesque 'fine cascades' of water. Although the water power available at Coalbrookdale had been described as 'abundant', it was also seasonal: in the summer months, the lack of water could require the furnace to be 'blown out' for some months and work suspended. A simple method to extend the water availability was to construct a series of ponds high in the valley. These provided a reserve of water to cover short periods of low rainfall, but could not supply an entire summer. From 1735, the Coalbrookdale Company under Abraham Darby II attempted to reduce their dependency upon seasonal water supply by a series of water-returning engines. These engines did not drive the ironworks machinery directly, but pumped water from the lower to upper ponds to recycle it. The first of these engines was horse-worked in around 1735, then replaced by a Newcomen engine in 1742–1743. Newcomen engines were recognised as expensive in their coal consumption and were replaced in most situations other than coal mines, where waste slack could be used. At Coalbrookdale, the steam engines were fired with high quality coal, possibly the same grade of metallurgical coal as used in the blast furnaces. This continued until the recession of 1830, when Abraham IV and Alfred Darby saved 600 tons of high quality coal by switching the works to using only low-quality coal for boilers. To increase the water pumping capacity, and to reduce the amount of coal consumed, in 1781 Abraham Darby III replaced the existing Newcomen engine with ''Resolution'', one of the recently developed, and more efficient, atmospheric engines with Watt's separate condenser. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Resolution (beam engine)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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