History of energy and engines
69 inventos por año: de qué evolucionó cada uno y a qué llevó.
Cómo se conectan los inventos
| Año | Invento | Qué es | Evolucionó de | Llevó a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400000 a. C. | Hacer fuego Homo erectus, archaic human | The controlled use and production of fire. | Fósforo, Mechero | |
| 30000 a. C. | Carbón vegetal | Fuel made by heating wood without air. | ||
| 1000 a. C. | Carbón | A fossil fuel — the basis of the Industrial Revolution. | ||
| 300 a. C. | Rueda hidráulica | A wheel with paddles turned by flowing water. | Turbina, Turbina hidráulica | |
| 300 a. C. | Molino de agua | A mill whose millstones are turned by a water wheel. | ||
| 50 | Eolípila de Herón | A ball spun by jets of steam — the oldest steam turbine. | Máquina expendedora, Turbina | |
| 900 | Molino de viento | A mill driven by the wind. | Aerogenerador | |
| 1600 | Mina de carbón | Underground coal mining. | ||
| 1690 | Pistón | A part that moves in a cylinder under the pressure of gas or steam. | ||
| 1712 | Caldera | A vessel in which water turns into steam under pressure. | ||
| 1712 | Máquina de Newcomen Thomas Newcomen | The first practical atmospheric steam engine, for pumping water out of mines. | Olla a presión | Máquina de vapor de Watt |
| 1765 | Condensador separado | Watt’s invention: steam condenses outside the cylinder, greatly raising efficiency. | ||
| 1769 | Máquina de vapor de Watt | A steam engine with a separate condenser — the prime mover of the Industrial Revolution. | Bomba de pistón, Máquina de Newcomen | Motor de combustión interna, Tractor, Termodinámica, Turbina de vapor |
| 1788 | Regulador centrífugo James Watt | A speed regulator with spinning weights; used by Watt. | Control de crucero | |
| 1800 | Ventilación de minas | Airing the workings. | ||
| 1812 | Gas de hulla | Gas made from coal for street lighting and stoves. | ||
| 1815 | Lámpara de Davy Humphry Davy | A safety miner’s lamp with a gauze. | Lámpara de carburo | |
| 1821 | Gas natural | A gaseous fossil fuel, mostly methane. | ||
| 1827 | Turbina hidráulica | A turbine driven by flowing water (Fourneyron, Francis, Kaplan). | Rueda hidráulica | |
| 1829 | Caldera pirotubular | A boiler in which hot gases run through tubes in the water. | ||
| 1830 | Malacate de mina | A cage on a rope. | ||
| 1839 | Celda de combustible | Produces current directly from the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen (Grove). | ||
| 1848 | Pozo de petróleo | A well for extracting oil; drilling at Absheron and by Drake. | ||
| 1856 | Bomba de calor | Moves heat from cold to warm at the cost of work. | ||
| 1859 | Torre de perforación | A machine for drilling wells. | ||
| 1876 | Motor de combustión interna Rudolf Diesel, Nicolaus Otto | An engine in which fuel burns inside the cylinder (Otto’s four-stroke cycle). | Máquina de vapor de Watt | |
| 1876 | Cigüeñal | A shaft with cranks that turns the stroke of the pistons into rotation. | ||
| 1877 | Calefacción urbana | Heating networks fed by combined heat and power plants. | ||
| 1878 | Oleoducto | Pipes for transporting oil and gas (Shukhov, the Nobels). | ||
| 1878 | Central hidroeléctrica | A station where water turbines turn the generators. | ||
| 1878 | Concentrador solar | Mirrors that gather the Sun’s heat. | ||
| 1882 | Red eléctrica | A system for transmitting and distributing electricity. | Red eléctrica inteligente | |
| 1882 | Central eléctrica | A plant that produces electricity; Edison’s Pearl Street. | ||
| 1882 | Planta de cogeneración | A station that produces both electricity and heat. | ||
| 1882 | Central térmica | A station where turbines are turned by steam from burning fuel. | ||
| 1884 | Turbina | A bladed machine turned by a flow of steam, gas or water. | Eolípila de Herón, Rueda hidráulica | |
| 1884 | Turbina de vapor | Parsons’s turbine, driven by steam. | Máquina de vapor de Watt | Tobera de Laval |
| 1887 | Aerogenerador | A windmill that drives an electric generator. | Molino de viento | |
| 1888 | Electrolizador | A unit for electrolysis of water. | ||
| 1891 | Línea eléctrica | Wires on towers for transmitting power over distance. | ||
| 1891 | Calentador solar de agua | A collector for heating water (Kemp). | ||
| 1897 | Motor diésel Rudolf Diesel | A combustion engine with compression ignition. | ||
| 1900 | Biocombustible | Fuel from plant material; Diesel demonstrated an engine running on peanut oil. | ||
| 1904 | Planta geotérmica | Uses the Earth’s internal heat; the first was at Larderello. | ||
| 1907 | Central de bombeo | Stores energy by pumping water uphill. | ||
| 1939 | Turbina de gas | A turbine driven by combustion products. | ||
| 1941 | Gas natural licuado | Gas cooled to −162 °C. | ||
| 1942 | Reactor nuclear | A facility for a controlled chain reaction (Chicago Pile-1). | ||
| 1942 | Barra de control | Absorbs neutrons and controls a reactor’s power. | ||
| 1942 | Moderador de neutrones | Graphite or water that slows neutrons down. | ||
| 1947 | Fracturación hidráulica | Pumping liquid to crack rock. | ||
| 1947 | Plataforma petrolífera | A platform for extracting oil at sea. | ||
| 1950 | Almacenamiento por volante de inercia | Stores energy in the rotation of a flywheel. | ||
| 1951 | Reactor reproductor rápido | A breeder reactor (BN-600, EBR-I). | ||
| 1954 | Panel solar | A panel of photocells that turns light into current. | ||
| 1954 | Central nuclear | The world’s first was the Obninsk plant. | ||
| 1954 | Corriente continua de alta tensión | Transmitting power over very long distances. | ||
| 1958 | Tokamak Igor Tamm, Andrei Sakharov | A toroidal chamber with magnetic confinement of plasma (Tamm, Sakharov). | ||
| 1961 | Generador de radioisótopos | A battery using decay heat and thermocouples; powers the Voyager probes. | ||
| 1966 | Central mareomotriz | Uses the energy of the tides (Rance). | ||
| 1970 | Energía del hidrógeno | Hydrogen as an energy carrier. | ||
| 1972 | Captura de carbono | Capturing and storing CO₂. | ||
| 1982 | Central solar | A field of solar panels or mirrors. | ||
| 2000 | Contador inteligente | A meter that transmits data. | Contador eléctrico | |
| 2000 | Central undimotriz | Uses the energy of sea waves. | ||
| 2005 | Red eléctrica inteligente | A power grid with digital control. | Red eléctrica | |
| 2010 | Almacenamiento en baterías | Battery stations for balancing the grid. | ||
| 2020 | Reactor modular pequeño | A compact factory-built reactor (Akademik Lomonosov). | Rompehielos nuclear | |
| Energía eólica | Using the kinetic energy of moving air. |