Whitbread Engine

The Whitbread Engine preserved in the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia, built in 1785, is one of the first rotative steam engines ever built, and is the oldest surviving. A rotative engine is a type of beam engine where the reciprocating motion of the beam is converted to rotary motion, producing a continuous power source suitable for driving machinery.

Whitbread Engine
Boulton & Watt steam engine decommissioned in 1887, at the Powerhouse Museum
Origins
TypeWatt, rotative beam
DesignerJames Watt
MakerBoulton and Watt
Date1785 (1785)
Country of originEngland
Former operatorWhitbread, London, England
PurposeDriving brewery machinery
Measurements
Cylinders1
Bore0.64 metres (25 in)
Stroke1.8 metres (6 ft)
Flywheel diameter4.27 metres (10 ft)
Power26 kilowatts (35 hp) (as built)
Preservation
LocationPowerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia
33.877898°S 151.199573°E / -33.877898; 151.199573 (Powerhouse museum)
URLwww.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=7177

This engine was designed by the mechanical engineer James Watt, manufactured for the firm Boulton and Watt and originally installed in the Whitbread brewery in London, England. On decommissioning in 1887 it was sent to Australia's Powerhouse Museum (then known as the Technological, Industrial and Sanitary Museum) and has since been restored to full working order.

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