STEAM ENGINE

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…was designed by the Swedish engineer Carl Gustaf de Laval in 1882. A later American design had multiple impulse wheels mounted on the same shaft with nozzle sections located between each wheel. Subsequent advances in the design of steam turbines and boilers allowed for higher pressures and temperatures. These advances led to the huge and efficient modern machines, which are capable of converting more than 40 percent of the energy available in the fuel into useful work.