Aeolipile

An aeolipile (or aeolipyle, or eolipile), also known as a Heron's engine, is a simple bladeless radial steam turbine which spins when the central water container is heated. Torque is produced by steam jets exiting the turbine, much like a tip jet or rocket engine. In the 1st century AD, Hero of Alexandria described the device, and many sources give him the credit for its invention.

The aeolipile Heron described is considered to be the first recorded steam engine or reaction steam turbine. The name – derived from the Greek word Αἴολος and Latin word pila – translates to "the ball of Aeolus", Aeolus being the Greek god of the air and wind.

Pre-dating Heron's writings, a device called an aeolipile was described in the 1st century BC by Vitruvi in his treatise De architectura; however, it is unclear if it is the same device or a predecessor, as he does not mention rotating parts.

The aeolipile consists of a vessel, usually a "simple" solid of revolution, such as a sphere or a cylinder, arranged to rotate on its axis, having oppositely bent or curved nozzles projecting from it (tipjets). When the vessel is pressurised with steam, steam is expelled through the nozzles, which generates thrust due to the rocket principle as a consequence of the 2nd and 3rd of Newton's laws of motion. When the nozzles, pointing in different directions, produce forces along different lines of action perpendicular to the axis of the bearings, the thrusts combine to result in a rotational moment (mechanical couple), or torque, causing the vessel to spin about its axis. Aerodynamic drag and frictional forces in the bearings build up quickly with increasing rotational speed (rpm) and consume the accelerating torque, eventually cancelling it and achieving a steady state speed.

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