Babcock and Wilcox water-tube boiler
Caldera acuotubular de Babcock y Wilcox
- Date
- 1867 · confidence high
- Place
- Providence, Rhode Island, United States
- Credited to
- Stephen Wilcox and George Babcock
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A boiler in which water flows through tubes surrounded by hot gases instead of gases through tubes inside a water drum, allowing much higher pressures and capacities. It became the basis of steam power stations.
The water-tube idea goes back to Blakey (1766) and Stevens (1805); Babcock and Wilcox patented it with commercial success in 1867.
What it led to
- large boilers for electric power stations
- high-pressure steam turbines
- high-power marine propulsion