special attention to power technologies in this chapter, so we begin with a look at these technologies from the engineering perspective.
Processes (Inputs to Outputs) for Power Technologies
Table 2.2 shows how various power technologies differ in their inputs, process, and outputs.
Notice in the table that some technologies involve several stages of transforn1ation of energy. Each transformation is a technology in itself. For example, a coal-fired electric power plant uses cmnbustion technology to transform fuel energy into heat energy, then stean1 engine technology to transforn1 heat energy into the rotational (kinetic) energy of a turbine, and then electromotor technology to transform rotational energy into elec tric energy.
What is the steam engine? It had been invented in the early 1700s, but it was James Watt's refinements to the steam engine in 1769 and 1781 that created the power behind the Industrial Revolution. The steam engine